A Midsummer Night's Matchmaking
by boreas1435
Summary: Tetra isn't particularly keen on her new neighbour Link, especially when he falls hopelessly in love with Tetra's arch-nemesis, Zelda. But when Tetra is coerced into helping Link get with Zelda, she slowly starts to change her opinion of him. But can she really get Link the happy ending he wants with Zelda, or will her own feelings get in the way? Modern-day AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello again! My second story is finally completed and ready to be viewed by other humans. At least, I think it is. Massive thanks to everyone who read and reviewed (and hopefully enjoyed) my last story, you have inspired me to keep writing.

This story is going to be quite different to my last one - for one thing, it's set in a modern-day AU. I don't want to give away any more, but if you've read this far, hopefully something about this premise appeals to you.

So, enough from me, and on with the story!

-o-

The salty wind whips the hair out of my eyes as I stare at the horizon. The dark haze of a far-off island, barely visible at this distance, hovers invitingly out of reach. I nod in satisfaction, causing the view through my telescope to oscillate wildly up and down. Destination acquired I slide back down the ladder from the crow's nest to the deck, heading straight for the large man at the wheel.

'Gonzo! More to starboard,' I yell up at him, then glance round at the other members of my crew, scurrying round like a pack of rats.

'Zuko! Get back up into that crow's nest and keep an eye on that island! Nudge! What are those barrels doing out here? Get them below, now! Mako! Your eye's creeping me out again! Nico! Swab the decks!' The men rush around obediently… mostly. The unfortunate Nico, the lowest-ranking member of my crew, complains about always being on swabbie duty. But he has the sense to wait until I'm out of earshot, correctly guessing that I don't want to hear it.

I run up to the bow of the ship, climbing right out over the dragon figurehead, keeping my eyes set on the horizon. I smile to myself, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my back and the breeze in my face. The ship crashes against the waves, the seagulls caw overhead, the car door slams shut… wait, what? Suddenly the open ocean vista ahead of me ripples and fades. I growl under my breath, another perfectly enjoyable dream ruined by some idiot and their car.

I'm still grumbling when I wake up fully, the creaking of the ship replaced by the wind whispering through the grass in my back yard. I frown, and the movement dislodges the book I propped over my eyes to keep the sun out, and also to fool my brother into thinking I'm not having a nap out here. Yeah, as if he'd even look for me anyway. I sit up on the grass, trying to remember what woke me. Ah yes, the car.

I toss the book to one side and rush into my house, straight up to my brother's room. I have to blink a few times as I enter, my eyes unaccustomed to the gloom. Twins we may be, but me and my brother are so different we're frequently assumed to be no relation to each other. While I love nothing more than being outside in the bright sunshine, my brother is a creature of the shadows, always hiding himself away in his dark room. Our different lifestyles show in our appearances; although we share our mother's golden-blonde hair, my skin is tanned brown as a nut while my brother is pale as moonlight. Said brother is now cursing me using a variety of colourful words I didn't know he knew, but I ignore him.

'Tetra! What are you doing? This is my room!' he protests.

'I'll be gone in a minute Sheik, I just need to borrow your window,' I reply, going over to the alcove in one wall. We both have these in our rooms, a seat set back into the wall and surrounded by windows which offer a 180° view of the outside world. But while my windows show only a gnarled tree and the house next door, Sheik's windows offer a view of the street, including everyone's front yards. Perfect for spying. Or at least they would be, if he ever bothered to open the curtains. I wrench them open, making him shriek and fall off his chair as the bright sunlight streams into the room, but I take no notice.

'Stop being such a vampire and get over here,' I order him, and he reluctantly obeys.

'Why are you even up here?' he asks grumpily.

'I told you, I need your window. I need to see who's in the front yard.'

'You know, you could just use the front door.'

'Yes, but then whoever it is would see me, too. And if it's someone I don't want to see, that would be a bad thing. This way if it's someone awful we can just hide and pretend we're not home.' Sheik sighs in resignation. He's used to my antisocial attitude, although I'm nothing compared to him. He refuses to see anyone whatsoever,while I'm more open to the idea of other people, but only a select few. None of whom are likely to be outside my front door in the middle of the day during summer vacation.

'I don't see anyone,' Sheik says, peering out.

'Me neither… no, wait! There! Look!' Sheik looks from side to side, unseeing, until I sigh in frustration, grab his head and position it properly. 'In Mr Faron's front yard! There's a car!' There is indeed a car, next to which stands our neighbour, the reclusive Mr Faron. He's a middle-aged businessman who's very rarely home, so neither me nor Sheik know much about him. And yet here he is, in the flesh.

'What's he doing here?' I ask curiously.

'Well, it is his home. I guess even he has to go back there occasionally.'

'I guess… hey, look at that!' Our neighbour walks round the car to help someone out the other side: a small blonde girl of about eleven, holding a large cardboard box. The car door on the other side also opens to reveal another blond; a boy this time, about the same age as me and Sheik, also holding cardboard boxes.

'Who are they?' I ask, squinting to get a better look while beside me Sheik shakes his head.

'No idea. Relatives?'

'You mean Mr Faron has a family? No way.' But looking at the group I have to admit there is some resemblance between the three of them. Certainly the boy and the girl, who are probably siblings, and I suppose from some angles Mr Faron does look like a much older version of the boy. I watch as our neighbour says a few brief words to boy, gesturing vaguely at his house, then around at the street. The boy nods, then Mr Faron gets back in his car and drives off, leaving the two children on the sidewalk, looking slightly lost.

'We should go say hello,' Sheik says vaguely and I murmur in response, even though neither of us has any intention of leaving the safety of our house. As previously mentioned, Sheik doesn't like people and I'm not exactly friendly. But as I watch the boy try to hold two boxes under his chin, while holding his sister's hand and also fumbling with the house keys, I make up my mind.

'Come on. Let's go.' I stop at the door when I realise Sheik isn't following.

'You mean… really?' I roll my eyes impatiently.

'Yes, really! We're their new neighbours, it's the least we can do!' And when my brother fixes me with a 'yeah, right' look I add, 'Besides, watching that boy try to carry those boxes ought to be good for a laugh!' Sheik sighs, but follows me out of his sanctuary to the house next door, grumbling all the way.

-o-

'Um… hello?' I call into the dark hallway. By the time Sheik and I made it out into Mr Faron's front yard the two new kids were gone, but the door of the house is open, so I assume they're in here somewhere. To be honest, I'm a little bit nervous. Not of the kids, but of Mr Faron. The only conversation I've ever had with him was once when we both happened to be getting the mail at the same time. I said good morning and he grunted. Hardly the basis of a promising acquaintanceship.

But I definitely saw the older man drive off and leave the boy and girl behind, so I suppose there's no danger. Or at least, that's how I see it. My coward of a brother seems disinclined to agree.

'They're not home. Come on, let's go,' he whispers.

'What do you mean, they're not home? Their front door's wide open! That's the universal symbol for "come in"!' And so I walk cautiously into the dark house, hoping the new neighbours also recognise the symbol.

'Anyone home?' I call, going through to the back of the house where I think I can see a kitchen. Suddenly my view is eclipsed by a small figure, who shrieks and runs back into the room. A muffled and hasty conversation is carried out within, and I take the opportunity to walk into the kitchen, which is fortunately more brightly lit. Both kids are here, the boy looking shocked and the girl clutching her brother's hand and trying to hide behind him. Clearly bumping into us terrified her.

'Er… hi,' I say awkwardly, terribly and painfully aware that I've just barged into a stranger's home. 'I'm… I mean, we're from next door. I'm Tetra and this is Sheik.' The boy looks just as stunned as before, but now his brows wrinkle slightly at the mention of my brother. I frown too and turn around, then sigh in annoyance. While the kitchen contains an overabundance of awkwardness, it compensates by having a complete lack of Sheik.

'Sheik! Get in here!' I yell, and my brother slowly pokes his head around the door, hand half-raised in a weak gesture of greeting.

'…Hi.' I sigh, mentally despairing of the Hylian race and the concept of brothers in particular, before turning back to the new kids. The boy seems to realise something is required of him, and clears his throat.

'Uh… hi, I'm… Link. This is my sister, Aryll. Say hello, Aryll.' The latter part of this is directed to the little girl, who squeaks something inaudible and hides even further behind Link. I give him a knowing look.

'Siblings, eh? No matter how hard you try, you just can't convince people they're not related to you.' Link gives me a puzzled look, as if he's not sure if I'm joking or not. Sheik, who knows I'm not, scowls. I clear my throat again in another attempt to dispel the awkwardness, and think frantically of something to say.

'Er… I know cookies are traditional for housewarmings, but I can't bake. Sorry.' Link shrugs and looks like he's about to speak when Sheik interrupts. I turn to my brother, surprised at his forwardness.

'A-actually, I think we've still got some of those cookies Uncle brought us…' At the mention of cookies Aryll pokes her head out from behind her brother.

'Chocolate chip?' she asks in a small voice, making me laugh.

'Yeah, and they're really good. Why don't you go with Sheik to get some, and I'll help your brother with your unpacking, huh?' Aryll suddenly beams at me and runs off out the door. Sheik follows her, but not before giving me a 'I'll get you for this' look. Come to think of it, most of the communication between the two of us is via looks. Given that Sheik's such a silent person, that's hardly surprising.

I'm still thinking about this when I hear Link start to move around behind me. Ah, right, I said I'd help him. I quickly try to look busy, a difficult feat given that I don't know where anything goes so I don't actually want to touch any of the boxes. Eventually Link coughs softly and gestures to a box, then gestures for me to follow him. Wow, this guy's almost as talkative as Sheik.

-o-

'So… you know Mr Faron?' I ask after a while as I follow Link up the stairs.

'Yeah, he's my uncle.'

'Ah, okay.' So I was right about them being related. 'And… why are you moving in with him?' What I'm really asking is, how bad are the alternatives that you and your sister actually want to live with this old grouch?

'We have to. I'm only sixteen, so I can't leave home for another two years, and anyway I don't want to leave Aryll behind. We used to live with our grandma, but we don't anymore.' I nod, wondering about that last part. But considering the range of likely possibilities, I decide not to ask.

'So why did your uncle just leave you here and drive off?'

'He said he had some business meeting. I get the sense we'll be spending a lot of time alone.'

'Yeah, from what I can tell Mr Faron's almost never home. Still, you're always welcome to come over to our house.' I bite my lip as I hear the words coming tumbling out of my mouth. Since when do I invite random people over to our house? Sheik's going to be livid if he finds out. When he finds out. But there's no need to tell Link that just yet.

'Thanks, I might take you up on that. But don't your parents mind?' I shrug.

'Might do. I don't know, I've never met them. Sheik and I also live with our uncle, who's also away on business nearly all the time. Seems like there's an epidemic of that around here!' Link laughs softly.

'Yeah, I guess. I'm… sorry about your parents.' I shrug again.

'Yeah, well… it's just one of those things, isn't it?'

'One of what things?'

'No idea. That's just what adults say, in hushed tones, whenever they're talking about our parents and they think me and Sheik can't hear them. But we can. We've got very keen hearing.'

'Listening at keyholes, you mean?' Link asks, turning to face me with a grin. I arrange my face into an injured expression

'Why, Link, how could you suggest such a thing? We are well brought up children!' Then, in a more normal voice I add, 'And anyway, most doors in our house don't have keyholes. We just put a glass to the floorboards.' Link laughs again, but stops abruptly when he has to juggle the cardboard box he's holding so he can open the door of his room.

'I think this is the room Uncle mentioned. Yes, this looks right.' I follow Link in and raise an eyebrow. It's a smallish room, with a bed on one side a desk on the other. Other than that the room is bare of furnishings. There isn't even a carpet, just cold floorboards.

'Your uncle's really making an effort for you guys, huh?' I ask dryly. Next to the desk is a window which looks out onto a familiar tree. 'Hey, you can see my room from here!' I exclaim, running over to look.

'Really? That's cool,' Link says, joining me.

'Yeah, it's- hey, what's he doing in there?' I say suddenly, seeing Sheik walk into my room with Aryll following. In the absence of a responsible adult in our house, me and Sheik don't have many rules. But that just means that the few we do have are very important, and one of them is that we are not allowed to go into each other's rooms without permission. Our rooms are sacred spaces, not to be trespassed on. Of course, it's a rule I frequently ignore, but that's no reason why my brother shouldn't have to stick to it. Without thinking I throw open Link's window and climb out onto a thick branch of the old tree between our houses.

'Er… should you be doing that, Tetra?' Link asks nervously. I ignore him, crawling steadily over to my window and banging on it as hard as I can, startling Sheik and Aryll.

'You open this window right now, Sheik Nohansen!' I growl, but he can barely hear me through the glass. Fortunately the expression on my face speaks a thousand words and he quickly does as I ask, although he leaps back with cat-like grace when I launch myself through the window. 'What are you doing in my room?' I ask, making him take another step back. I move purposefully towards him, but I'm stopped by a soft tug on the hem of my top. Glancing down I see Aryll, looking very nervous. Immediately I rearrange my expression, making it less murderous and more welcoming.

'Wanted to see if you had books,' Aryll mutters, hiding her mouth behind her hands.

'Oh.' I'm surprised. 'Well, you're welcome to borrow any of my books if you like, but Sheik has way more than I do. He's the bookworm in the family.'

'My books were a bit difficult,' Sheik says, which I understand. He generally reads boring old history books as thick as my arm, or nerdy science books full of technical words. Since I'm sixteen and I can't understand them, I get how little Aryll would struggle. The books I read are far more… approachable. Sheik, snob that he is, refuses to even call them books, because technically they are comics, but I still like them. I lead Aryll over to the small bookshelf by my bed and pull some out.

'Why are they all about pirates?' Aryll asks, and I shrug.

'I like pirates. You know, someone once told me that my mum was a pirate.' Aryll gasps, her eyes wide with childish awe.

' _Really?_ You're the daughter of a pirate? That's so cool!' I laugh.

'Well, I didn't say it was true. There aren't really any pirates left nowadays – at least, not proper pirates, with eyepatches and parrots and big wooden ships.'

'That doesn't stop Tetra from dreaming, though,' Sheik says with a smile. He knows me so well.

'Can I borrow some of these?' Aryll asks, clutching a pile of my comics to her chest as if they're made of gold.

'Of course! I've got plenty,' I assure her.

'Everything alright in here?' a voice from the window asks. We all spin round to see Link perched in the tree. 'You were taking a while, so I thought I'd come see what was going on,' he says by way of explanation.

'Oh, right. No, Aryll just wanted to borrow something to read. I'm coming back to help now,' I reply.

'I'll come too,' Sheik says, taking some of Aryll's new comics so that she can more easily climb back across the tree with us. I must say, I'm surprised that my brother is being so sociable. It certainly doesn't come easily for him. But maybe Aryll is having a transformative effect on him. Wouldn't that be nice.

-o-

'So, you got any advice about the neighbourhood?' Link asks.

'What, other than "don't live here"?' I reply, making Link laugh. We finished unpacking the siblings' meagre belongings, so me and Link are now sitting in the front yard drinking lemonade, while Sheik and Aryll are doing who knows what out back. I vaguely heard mud being mentioned.

'I'm sure it's not that bad here,' Link says.

'No, it's not. It's a nice area, quiet, respectable, all the rest of it. Some of the people are just a bit snobbish, that's all. And they're generally pretty hard on newcomers.'

'Oh, I see. Well, you seem very nice and Aryll's really taken a shine to Sheik, so that's a good start,' Link says optimistically. I stifle a sigh, thinking how little he knows. My brother and I like to think of ourselves as two islands of normality and open-mindedness in an ocean of judgemental idiots. It's not the nicest way to think of our neighbours, but some of them deserve it. Especially the girl across the road.

'Anyone in particular to avoid?' Link asks, as if reading my thoughts.

'Well, there's-' Speak of the devil. Across the road from us the front door opens, and a girl my age steps out. Even though she's just getting the mail she's clearly made an effort, her clothes neat, not a hair out of place. As she leaves her house she looks around, flicking her head and tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder like a model in a shampoo advert. Great Din, is she wearing make-up? She is. Who wears make-up to get the mail?

She walks down the path to the mailbox, swaying her hips slightly. Ugh. She's a good shape for hip-swaying. Tall and elegant to give her the required sweep, slim to make her hips show, and long, slender legs to make even the short walk to the mailbox look like she's on a catwalk. I snort and look away, but I can't help unconsciously comparing myself to her.

Her hair is thick and luxurious, falling to her waist like a dark waterfall, while mine is bright blonde and generally such a hassle that I keep it rolled up in a bun on top of my head. She's… willowy, I think the term is, tall and graceful, while I'm average height and a complete klutz. I'm stockier than her, which doesn't help, although personally I'd rather have a bit of muscle than be completely stick-thin like her. Shame the media view of the perfect woman doesn't agree with me on that one.

This girl is also the traditional idea of the perfect woman in that she's… well, a woman. She always wears stylish dresses which show off her, ahem, assets, while I'm far more comfortable in short pants and a tank top, which may not do much for me as far as appealing to the opposite sex is concerned, but I've never cared about that sort of thing before and I don't intend to start now.

Having concluded my mental rant and lowered my self-esteem a few notches, I watch the girl go back inside before turning to Link. To my surprise he's sitting bolt upright, eyes wide and mouth open. I sigh and mentally lower my opinion of Link a few notches as well. I know that look. I've seen it often enough, when boys are first confronted with a girl like Zelda Harkinian.

-o-

A/N: That's all for today, folks! Hope you liked it! Next chapter will be up tomorrow, so keep an eye out!


	2. Chapter 2

'Who… was that?' Link asks when he's regained the power of speech. I glance at my watch. Six and a half minutes. Not a bad recovery time, all things considered.

'Zelda Harkinian. Don't bother. Right, I'd better see how Sheik's doing,' I announce, getting up to search for my brother. If experience has taught me anything, it's that Link won't be thinking or talking about anything other than the girl across the road for at least an hour, and I have neither the time nor the inclination to stick around for that.

'Wait, don't go!' Link says quickly, and for a moment I wonder if he's not quite as thoroughly under Zelda's spell as I thought he was. 'Tell me more about her!' Link begs me. I sigh. Nope, no such luck.

'What do you want to know? Personality? None. Intelligence? None. Bitchiness level? Off the charts. But of course, you're not listening to any of that, are you?' I finish, getting the distinct impression I'm talking to myself. Link is staring off towards Zelda's closed door, and lets out a sigh so soft and wistful that you wouldn't hear it unless you were listening for it. I hear it loud and clear.

'Oh yeah, I forgot about the stuff you _really_ care about,' I say sarcastically. 'Boobs? Two, big 'uns. Social standing? The kind you couldn't even dream of.' Finally something gets through to Link.

'What? So she's popular?' I roll my eyes.

'Link, we're teenagers! Meaning that we're shallow and superficial as all hell! You really think a girl who looks like _that_ is going to be unpopular? Plus, she's the richest kid in town. That always helps.' Link sighs another mournful sigh.

'She's so out of my league, isn't she?' I hesitate. At a time like this the kind and sensible option, the one taken by all decent people, is to console the lovestruck subject by assuring them that the object of their affections is very much within their league, if not slightly below. I sigh.

'Yep. She's way out of your league. G'night, Link.'

-o-

That night Sheik and I dine off five-day-old reheated goop which I think was originally pizza. But after being microwaved and stuffed back in the fridge so many times, it now has the taste and consistency of something more usually associated with a blocked drain. As far as me and my brother are concerned, this is food at its finest.

'Forgot to tell you,' I say after a while. 'Link caught sight of Zelda today.' Sheik rolls his eyes and replies,

'Mmph mmph mm-mmph mm-mmph,' as his teeth have been glued together by the pizza. Being experienced in such matters, I quickly decode the reply to: there goes another one.

'Too true,' I tell him. 'Well, I didn't bother sugarcoating it. I told him that she's an utter bitch, totally not worth it, but if he wants to try he's wasting his time because she's way out of his league and would never go out with him anyway.' With an effort, Sheik swallows his pizza.

'In other words, the same speech you give to every guy who goes silly over her?'

'Yes.'

'Think he'll listen?'

'None of the others did.' We chew in silence for a while as I ponder.

'You know, Sheik – and don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining – I've often wondered why you don't fancy Zelda?' Sheik glares at me.

'You know why. Remember? When we were seven? By the lake?' I nod.

'Oh, right.' Ah yes, the infamous 'lake incident'. One day, when Zelda and her gang of fellow bitches (or junior bitches, as they were back then) were feeling particularly mean, they lured Sheik to the top of a steep hill, at the base of which was a large lake. They told him they were going to have a bike race down the hill, and my brother, being naturally sporty, was all for it. Except that while Zelda distracted Sheik, her friends cut his brakes. Then they started the 'race', and because they were so incredibly kind they let Sheik have a headstart.

Of course, after a few seconds he realised what was going on, but by that point he was halfway down the hill and still accelerating. And since he couldn't brake he hurtled straight into the lake. He's never forgiven Zelda and neither have I, which is why the day after she pranked Sheik I went over to her house when she was out and cut the brakes on her bike. Serves her right for messing with my brother.

But, satisfying though my revenge was, it didn't stop Sheik from getting traumatised. Ever since he's been more and more reclusive, and as for the idea of fancying Zelda, well… let's just say it's a bit of a long shot. But in my opinion that's no bad thing; Zelda has enough boys moping around after her as it is. No reason why my brother should be subjected to that. As I chew my pizza thoughtfully I decide that the world would be a lot simpler if more boys were pushed into lakes by girls at a young and impressionable age. It would stop them making such utter fools of themselves when they're older. A kind of vaccination against romance. Now there's a thought.

-o-

The next morning I fling open my curtains, sighing contentedly. It's another beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the- oh no. You have got to be kidding me. If I lean right out of my window I can just about see Mr Faron's front yard, and right now that means I can see Link, looking very nervous. As I watch he starts to cross the road, stops, comes halfway back, stops, goes back across the road a bit further, stops, comes back… you get the idea.

I sigh, recognising the behaviour. I can almost hear the thoughts that are going through Link's head: should I go say hello to her? I should. No, it'll be too weird. I'll just go back home. But I really want to meet her! Okay, I'll go. I watch as he nods slightly to himself, then sets off determinedly across the road. After a few more incidents of self-doubt and turning back, he makes it to the other side, outside Zelda's house.

At this point I can't see him without leaning so far out my window I'll fall, so I rush out of my room and into Sheik's. He's already up, reading some boring book with a complicated chemical diagram on the front cover, and he barely acknowledges my presence. He looks up properly though when I rip open the curtains.

'Hey! What's that for?' he asks, shading his eyes.

'Romeo's going to see Juliet,' I tell him, settling myself so I can watch Link. Sheik snorts and goes back to reading his book, muttering something about me being an obsessive stalker. I ignore him, watching as Link rings Zelda's doorbell. There's no answer, and he turns away, dejected, but suddenly the door opens behind him. Zelda leans against the doorframe, looking at Link with a bored expression. I'm too far away to hear what's being said, but their body language provides excellent subtitles.

Link plays the 'friendly and innocent new neighbour' card, introducing himself and gesturing back to his house. Zelda responds by playing the 'tell it to someone who cares' card, hiding a yawn behind her hand. Eventually Link trails to a stop, and looks at his feet. Zelda appears to wake up, realises she's not making a good impression, and smiles brightly at Link. He immediately beams back, and I roll my eyes. Pathetic. Zelda gestures into her house and Link nods, following her inside. Zelda shuts the door of her lair after him, and they're gone.

-o-

Link sighs happily to himself as he enters his room, his head still swimming with thoughts of Zelda. But as he turns to close the door he catches sight of the intruder and yelps suddenly. I raise a hand and wave at him from my seat by his window.

'Morning, neighbour! Just wanted to see how you and Zelda were getting on.' Link relaxes when he sees it's me, but he still looks confused.

'How do you know about that?' he asks.

'I just… I looked out my window and happened to see you going over there,' I say quickly. It's technically true, but conveniently leaves out the bit about me being a stalker.

'Oh, okay.' This seems to pass muster. 'I think things are going really well! I just went over to say hi to her this morning, and she invited me in! She's so kind and clever and beautiful and… amazing…' I roll my eyes again as Link drifts off into a reverie.

'Yeah, sure. You do know it's all an act, right? She always does this, making boys think she's the Goddess herself so they'll all chase after her. It's like a sport for her. Boy-baiting.'

'No, you don't understand!' Link says fervently. 'She really meant it!' I sigh at his naïveté. If only he knew how many times I've heard boys say that about Zelda, and how many times those boys were then cruelly tossed aside by her.

'Link – okay, before I explain this to you, I need to know something. Have you ever had a girlfriend before?' Link blushes slightly and shakes his head, looking down at his feet. Brilliant. No experience whatsoever. No wonder he's fallen for Zelda's routine.

'Well, if you'd had a girlfriend you'd have some experience of how these things work. Zelda is just messing with you. She's not actually interested, she's just doing it for fun. She enjoys making boys fall in love with her. Like I said, it's like a sport for her. She's just a bitch, and right now you're her next target. Don't fall for it.' Link frowns at me.

'What exactly do you have against Zelda, Tetra?'

'What don't I have against her? I've lived across the street from her for over ten years, I know what she's like! Time and time again I've seen innocent boys being lured to their doom by her, and every single time the same thing happens! They catch sight of her, they think she's the most amazing girl in the world. Then she turns on the charm, flirting with them and making them think they've actually got a chance. Then they go completely silly over her, doing whatever she asks no matter how dangerous or criminal it is, just to gain her favour. Then she either gets bored of them, or she thinks they're getting too clingy, or she just finds another victim, and then she dumps them. I'm just sick and tired of watching her do it!' I pause for breath, watching Link to see if this has sunk in. It hasn't.

'Maybe you're just jealous,' Link says kindly. I stare at him.

'Jealous? Of what? Of her being a bitch?'

'Jealous of the fact that she's got guys running after her. Doesn't every girl want that?' I can't believe this guy. Does he really think I want to be like Zelda, with her constant stream of hopeless admirers? Why would every girl want that? Why would _any_ girl want that?

Without answering Link I climb back out the window, across the tree to my room. Once in there I ignore the bright summer's day, closing my window and pulling the curtains across tightly. Jealous, indeed!

-o-

I sigh to myself as the doorbell rings downstairs. Whoever it is, I'm not interested. If it's Link, I'm in no mood for his idiocy, if it's Aryll, Sheik can deal with her, and if it's Zelda or any of our other neighbours, I don't want to be forced to stand there and pretend I'm happy to see them while they prattle on about something irrelevant.

'Doorbell!' Sheik shouts from his room. And so our routine begins. Sheik's just as lazy as I am when it comes to answering the door, and every time the bell rings we have this battle of wits, before one of us gives in and goes down to see who it is. Well, I'm not going to let him win. Not today.

'You get it!' I yell back, not getting up from my bed.

'I did it last time! You get it!'

'I'm in the middle of a comic! You get it!'

'It might be Link! You get it!'

'I don't care if it is him! And anyway, it's more likely to be Aryll! You get it!' There's grumbling from my brother's room, but he doesn't get up. Not yet, at least.

'I can hear you two yelling at each other in there!' a voice from outside the front door shouts. 'I don't care who it is, as long as one of you gets off your lazy asses and lets me in!' I perk up immediately when I hear the voice. At a time like this, there's only one person I would actually be glad to see. Sheik clearly has the same idea, as I hear his door crash open. I follow quickly and we race down the stairs, pushing and shoving. The person outside the door is well-known for rewarding whichever one of us cares enough to let him in, so Sheik and I always fight for that honour. Eventually we land in a brawling heap at the bottom of the stairs, and both wrench open the front door together.

'Uncle!' we shout, although we're both pretty breathless. Our uncle takes one look at us, rolls his eyes, and gestures to his bags.

'Somewhere in there there's a box of cookies. Ownership goes to whichever one of you finds it first.' He wisely stands to one side as me and Sheik scramble for the bags, hurriedly searching through them.

'Got it!' I yell triumphantly, and Sheik scowls at me.

'Well done, Tetra,' my uncle says. 'Now you can tidy up the mess you made and take the bags in.' Sheik's face immediately splits into a smile as I haul the bags up to Uncle's room, grumbling all the way. When I come back down to the kitchen I see Sheik and my uncle sitting at the table, eating from the box of cookies.

'Hey! Hands off my food!' I yell, running over and grabbing the box from their hands, making my uncle laugh.

'That's Sheik's box, Tetra. Yours is over there.' When I glare at him suspiciously he explains, 'Did you really think I was only going to bring cookies for one of you? And more to the point, did you really think Sheik and I were going to risk life and limb by stealing your precious cookies?' Reluctantly satisfied, I get my own box and join the other two at the table. Mm, these really are good. I don't know where my uncle gets them from, but whenever he comes home from his long business trips he always brings some back with him. Sort of an apology for always leaving me and Sheik home alone.

'So how long are you staying here for?' I ask between mouthfuls.

'Only one night. Sorry kids, but I've got an important meeting in Kakariko tomorrow morning, and after that I've got to travel over to Termina.' Sheik and I share a disappointed look. Termina is an entirely different land, far away from Hyrule, and going there means that Uncle will be away for a month, at least. 'I'm sorry, but I have to go. But I'll try to bring you two something back from Clock Town, alright?' our uncle asks, and we nod. It's not quite the same, but I guess Uncle has to go for his job. It's not like he chooses to spend so much time away from us.

'You know, we should probably save some of these cookies for Link and Aryll,' Sheik says contemplatively after a while. I stare at him in shock. Is my loner brother actually suggesting we share our wonderful cookies with other people? What's come over him? Has Aryll been brainwashing him or something? Our uncle looks from one of us to the other in confusion.

'Who're Link and Aryll?'

'New neighbours. Mr Faron's niece and nephew.'

'What, old Rusl? Didn't know he had a family,' Uncle says, staring into space. 'You really do learn something new every day. I hope you two have been making them feel welcome?'

'Yes, Uncle,' we chorus. I'm not sure if lecturing Link on his love life constitutes making him feel welcome, but I'm choosing to believe it does.

'Good. Well then, I'm off to bed. I've got to be up at 4:30 tomorrow morning, so I need an early night. Don't stay up too late.'

'No, Uncle,' we chorus again, winking at each other behind his back. As far as we're concerned, 'too late' is after five in the morning.

-o-

I glance at the clock on my bedside table. 9:30. Pfft. Far too early to go to bed, but I'm bored. I tried rereading some of my old comics, but I just can't focus on anything. Shaking my head, I go over to my window and open the curtains a crack. Across the tree I can see Link lying on his bed, reading a book. Aryll is nowhere to be seen, but I guess she has her own room. I sit on my window seat for a moment, fighting with myself, but unfortunately I lose. Opening the window fully, I creep along the tree branch until I'm right outside Link's window. I knock gently, not wanting to startle him, and he immediately leaps up and opens the window when he sees it's me.

'Hey,' he says as he helps me in.

'Hey yourself,' I reply. We stand there awkwardly for a minute as I mentally replay our conversation this morning, right up until I stormed off. 'Er… sorry about this morning. I was only trying to help.' Link sighs, rubbing his neck with the back of his hand.

'It's fine, I get it. And maybe you're right, maybe I am being stupid about Zelda.' There's no maybe about it, I think to myself, but I keep quiet.

'It's just that I've never met a girl like Zelda before,' Link continues. 'To be honest, I've never met any girls before.' Ahem, my internal monologue interjects. Since when do I not count as a girl? But again, I keep this to myself.

'I get it,' I tell Link, even though I don't. 'I only said those things because they're true. I've seen so many boys get sucked up by Zelda's charm, and it always ends so badly for them. I guess this time I just wanted to be charitable and try to save you from that fate.' Link smiles, and then to my utter shock he hugs me.

'Thanks, Tetra. I've never had a friend like you before.' I hesitantly hug back, turning this over in my mind. First of all, are we officially friends now? When did that happen? And second, what does he mean he's never had a friend like me before? Did he have no friends whatsoever before now? As if reading my mind, Link says (although his words are muffled by the hug),

'Where Aryll and I used to live, with our grandma, there was no-one else my age. Aryll had friends, but I only had her. It was pretty lonely. I'm so happy I've got you now.' I smile and hug Link tighter. Aww. Well, Link's definitely got the cute factor.

'I'm glad that's sorted out,' I tell Link when we separate. 'What do you want to do now? I can't sleep and Sheik is going to kill me if I go bother him, so as my new friend it's your duty to entertain me. Got any ideas?' Link looks at me quizzically, but just then we hear a car pull up.

'Who's that?' I ask. Link shakes his head.

'No idea. Wait, maybe it's my uncle!' He runs out of the room and I follow, to a room across the hallway. It looks like a study, so I'm guessing it belongs to Mr Faron. If he really is coming home, he's not going to be happy about us being in here. Link beckons me over to a window overlooking the street, but to his disappointment and my relief there's no-one outside the house. But looking across the road I suddenly point to something.

'There, outside Zelda's house! Who's coming to see her at this time of night?' We both press our noses against the glass and watch as a tall, dark figure gets out of the car parked across the street. Even from this distance I can see the streetlamps shining off his vivid red hair. I feel Link stiffen next to me as the man rings the doorbell of Zelda's house, and in mere moments is greeted by the girl herself. She wasn't that quick this morning with Link, I remind myself. Clearly she's much more eager to see this man. A few words are exchanged, then Zelda closes the door behind her and gets into the car with the man. As they drive off the sound of the engine is slowly replaced by the sound of teeth being ground to a powder.

'Who was that, and what was he doing with Zelda?' Link asks through gritted teeth.

' _That_ was Ganondorf. Apparently you've got competition.'

-o-

'Did you know Zelda's going out with Ganon?' I ask Sheik at breakfast the next morning. After we saw the two lovebirds drive off last night, I tried making smalltalk with Link but he was brooding so much that eventually I gave up, made my excuses, and escaped back to my room. Across the table from me, my brother shakes his head.

'Nope. But come to think of it, I have seen him going round to her house a lot. I'm surprised her dad lets them do it. He's pretty strict, isn't he? I can't imagine he's happy that his little princess is going out with a guy like Ganon.' I agree with him; Ganon has a reputation in our neighbourhood as a bad boy. He's a year older than us, but he was held back, apparently because he broke some guy's nose. He also drives a fast car, drinks alcohol in the middle of the day, and there's some speculation amongst the housewives of our area that the two old women who raised him practice witchcraft. Certainly not the kind of guy you'd associate with a perfect little princess like Zelda.

'Link seemed pretty pissed off,' I note, and Sheik shrugs.

'I'm not surprised. Ganon is not the kind of guy you want to compete with.' Suddenly the doorbell goes and our eyes meet. Our uncle left earlier this morning, before we got up, so who's coming to see us? Ditching our usual argument in favour of satisfying my curiosity, I get up from the table and open the door, only to be bowled over by a small blonde streak.

'Sorry!' Aryll says excitedly as she shoots past.

'I'm fine,' I gasp from the floor. 'But what are you doing here so early? It's ten in the morning!'

'Sheik said he'd take me for a bike ride!' Aryll says with a broad smile, before dashing off to the kitchen to find my brother.

'Sorry about her,' Link says, coming in the door behind his sister and helping me up. 'She's been bouncing around the house all morning. She loves to ride but I don't have a bike, so she was really excited when your brother offered to go with her. I gather he likes bike riding?'

'Hates it,' I manage, trying to get my breath back. Ever since the lake incident Sheik avoids his bike like the plague, but clearly Aryll is changing him. Still, it'll get him out from under my feet, so I'm not going to complain.

'What's all this about a bike ride?' I ask Sheik when I make it into the kitchen, Link in tow.

'Oh, I promised Aryll,' Sheik says nonchalantly, before turning to the little girl. 'Just let me finish my breakfast, then we'll go, okay?'

'Okay!' Aryll says, bouncing around on her seat. I laugh and invite Link to sit down as I finish my own food.

'Got any plans for today, now these hooligans are out of the way?' I ask him. He shrugs, looking downcast.

'Not really. I was going to go see Zelda, but…' I sigh and roll my eyes when he's not looking.

'Link was in such a bad mood this morning,' Aryll stage-whispers to me.

'Yeah, I can believe it.' We sit in silence for a while, Link occasionally stealing pieces of toast from my plate. Normally I'd object to someone stealing my precious breakfast, but since food is a tried and tested remedy for heartache, I swallow my angry protests.

'So what are you going to do about Zelda?' Sheik asks Link after a few minutes. I kick my brother under the table, giving him a 'what did you do that for?' look. Link doesn't reply, just shrugs and sighs sadly.

'Stop moping around,' I tell him sharply. 'So she's got a boyfriend. Big deal. There'll be other girls.'

'Not like her,' he says, heaving another sigh. Aryll gives me a knowing look, so I'm guessing Link's been like this all morning. Poor her.

'You know,' Sheik begins after another period of silence. I glare at him, silently warning him not to make this any worse. As uncle always says, when in a hole, stop digging. But my idiot of a brother continues undeterred. 'Link, I bet you could still get Zelda if you really wanted to. All you need is a bit of help.'

'What do you mean?' Link says slowly, confused by Sheik's words yet desperate for this small ray of hope.

'Tetra and I were saying before you two came how unsuited Zelda and Ganon are for each other. I bet it wouldn't be that hard to split them up. And you're a nice guy, Link. I'm sure once Zelda sees how bad Ganon really was she'll start to look at you very differently, especially if you were the one that opened her eyes about Ganon.'

'I fail to see how that's going to work,' I say, narrowing my eyes at Sheik. 'I mean, Link's no Casanova. Even if by some remote chance he does manage to split Zelda and Ganon up, he'll more than likely screw everything up with Zelda after that. No offence, Link.'

'None taken,' he replies dutifully.

'Ah, but that's why I said he needed help,' Sheik counters, and I'm disturbed to see a mad gleam in his eye. 'He needs someone who knows all about boys and girls, and Ganon and Zelda in particular. Someone who can help him break those two up, and then show him how to woo Zelda afterwards.'

'Oh yeah, and where is he going to find someone like that?' I ask with a snort. Sheik looks away, as if he knows I'm going to object to what he says next.

'Well, I was thinking… you, Tetra.'


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry, forgot to post this yesterday!

-o-

All eyes at the table swivel to Sheik, with looks varying from hope to disbelief to bloody murder. You can guess which one belongs to me. Then, in the long silence, all eyes swivel to me.

'…No,' I manage to spit out eventually. 'No! No way! Why the hell would I help Link to score with some utter bitch, pissing off the most homicidal guy in our neighbourhood along the way? What's in it for me?'

'The chance to be a good neighbour?' Link asks hopefully.

'Pssh! You'll have to try harder than that,' I tell him, getting up from the table and walking towards the door.

'The chance to be a good friend?' Link asks again, and I pause, my back to him.

'...No. No, not even for a friend. I'm sorry Link, I'm not doing it. I mean, what makes you think I'd be any good at that sort of thing anyway?'

'You always play matchmaker for our friends at school,' Sheik points out.

'That's different. There I'm pairing up people who have a natural affinity for each other. Which, you have to admit, Link and Zelda _don't_. And besides, this isn't just about getting Link and Zelda together, it's about splitting Ganon and Zelda apart, too! Ganon'll kill me!'

'He doesn't need to know you're involved,' Sheik says calmly.

'Alright, then he'll kill Link! Is that any better?' Link looks like he's about to answer this, but I interrupt him.

'And haven't you lot forgotten the bigger problem here? I mean, hello, the moral issues with this are pretty big. We're breaking up two people who, for all we know, may be absolutely perfect for each other, causing both of them untold heartbreak, just so we can set one of them up with our friend, which may end up making everyone involved even more miserable than they were to start with! No, I'm sorry, but I'm not doing it. Find someone else.'

And with that I storm out, running up to my bedroom and locking myself in. Then I throw myself on the bed and lie there until my heart has stopped pounding.

-o-

There's a tentative knocking at my bedroom door.

'Go away, Sheik!' I yell, not getting up from my bed.

'It's Link,' the voice outside my door replies.

'Oh.' There's a pause while I mentally recalibrate. 'Go away, Link!'

'Won't you even consider it?'

'How many times? No! I told you, find someone else!'

'But-' I growl and throw the nearest thing I can grab at the door. Since the nearest thing I can grab is a pillow, the desired effect is somewhat reduced. Link, hearing only the faintest of thuds, continues.

' _Please_ , Tetra. I was talking to Sheik-'

'Oh, were you? How nice! Since the two of you are such great buddies, he can help you woo Zelda. In fact, why don't the two of you just save time and go out together? Better still, skip the formalities and just get married! But whatever you do, leave me out of it!' Link sighs.

'Don't you want the chance to annoy Zelda and Ganon? I know you hate them.' There's silence while I consider this. Although I'm not going to admit it, Link does have a point. Ganon and Zelda have both bullied Sheik relentlessly since we first met them almost ten years ago, although they soon learnt to fear my anger and steer clear of me. They certainly deserve a bit of heartbreak as revenge for all they've done to my brother. The chance to get back at them by ruining their relationship is tempting, but it's still not enough for me to stick my neck out on Link's behalf.

'No. Nothing doing. Now go bother someone else!' I yell back at Link. He sighs again, but I hear dejected footsteps leading away from my door. I do feel bad for crushing what is likely Link's only hope of being with the so-called girl of his dreams, but he only met the girl yesterday. I don't believe in love at first sight, and I definitely don't believe that Link loves Zelda enough for me to get killed by Ganon. He'll have to sort out his own love life.

-o-

The ship slows as it approaches the island, until finally it bumps gently against the rocky shore.

'Wait on the ship until I give you the signal,' I tell Gonzo. The large man doesn't look happy about the idea of letting me go ashore all alone on this uncharted island but I ignore him, jumping from the side and landing in the raging surf. The island is pretty small and looks uninhabited, but I'm not fooled. Anything could be hiding behind the palm trees: sailors, other pirates, or even monsters. But the reassuring weight of my short sword at my waist reminds me that I'm more than a match for anything I might encounter.

As I creep round a rocky outcrop I see a house of some sort, made out of a gigantic conch shell turned on its end. There's an opening at the bottom and I tiptoe inside, nearly falling into a hole in the floor. I look down into it but it's all dark, the contents a mystery. Still, it's large enough for me to fit through, so I guess there's one obvious way of discovering its secrets.

But suddenly I hear loud voices behind me, and my head snaps back to where I left the ship. I sigh in annoyance as I turn away from the shell house. Clearly my crew are unable to keep themselves out of trouble for even a few minutes. But the voices don't sound right. One of them is female, and I'm the only woman on our ship. It sounds very familiar…

And suddenly the dream world in front of me vanishes, replaced by the inside of my eyelids. I grumble to myself, cursing whoever it was who woke me. I was really looking forward to finding out what was down that hole.

'Hah, look at her. Lazing around, just like always.' It's the same voice, female, sharp and nasal. Only one person I know has a voice like that.

'Hello, Zelda,' I say wearily, opening my eyes. She's standing in my front yard, a few feet from where I'm relaxing on the grass. Next to her, arm draped casually across her shoulders, is Ganon. 'And who exactly gave you permission to invade my front yard?' I ask, propping myself up on my elbows. Zelda just laughs, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes.

'You're always such a drama queen, Tet.' I growl under my breath. She knows how much I hate that nickname. She only uses it to get a rise out of me. Well, I'm not going to give her the satisfaction. With an effort I prevent my hands from balling into fists and stare her straight in her stunningly clear blue eyes.

'What do you want, Zelda?'

'Oh, nothing,' she says nonchalantly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Yeah, that's not very likely.

'Since when do you pay social calls?' I ask, but she ignores me. I shift my glare to Ganon, who's smirking at me. Something is definitely wrong here.

'By the way, what is it with that weirdo brother of yours and that new girl?' Zelda asks, and immediately I freeze. Sheik and Aryll. I'd forgotten about them. Out of the corner of my eye I scan the yard. No, Sheik's bike isn't here. That must mean he's still out with Aryll. But they've been gone for hours now. What's taking them so long?

'We ran into them in the park,' Zelda continues, apparently not noticing my concern.

'Literally,' Ganon mutters, and Zelda giggles.

'What do you mean, literally?' I ask, narrowing my eyes. 'What did you do this time?'

'To them? Nothing. And it's not _our_ fault they happened to leave their bikes in such a bad place. It was only a matter of time before _someone_ crashed into them. And Ganon was… distracted.' It takes a moment for her words to sink in, but when they do I leap to my feet, striding across the grass to Zelda. She must have seen the look on my face, because she takes a few hurried steps back and Ganon steps protectively in front of her.

'You utter bitch,' I address Zelda, venom dripping from each syllable. She narrows her eyes, but has the sense not to insult me back.

'Come on Zel, let's go,' Ganon says, taking Zelda's hand. She smirks at me and tosses her hair again, before walking off with the boy.

'See you next time, loser,' she yells back as she goes. I close my eyes and focus furiously on my breathing. _In, 2, 3… Out, 2, 3… Breathe._ Once I've stopped shaking from rage a different part of my mind finally gets my attention, and I whip out my phone, dialling Sheik's number with shaking fingers. My heart pounds as it rings, but eventually there's a voice at the other end.

'…Hello?'

'Sheik! Are you okay? Tell me you're okay!'

'I'm fine, Tetra. What happened? Why are you so panicked?'

'I just met Zelda and Ganon. They mentioned something about your bikes, and running into something. But you and Aryll are okay, right?'

'Yeah, we're fine. But now we know who did it.'

'Did what?'

'We left our bikes by the parking lot while we went to get ice cream, and when we came back they were flattened. It looked like someone had run over them with a car. And now we know who that someone is.' My breathing accelerates as my hands curl into fists. Of all the senseless, petty…

'Just as long as you guys aren't hurt,' I say with an effort. But that's not Zelda's style. She wouldn't get Ganon to actually hurt anyone, since they could both get into a lot of trouble for hitting a little girl like Aryll with a car, especially given Ganon's track record. But flattening a couple of bikes? Humiliating, pointless, and very annoying. Much more like her.

'We're fine, really. But we'll be walking home, so it'll take a while.'

'Okay, I'll let Link know,' I tell him, hanging up. I turn towards Link's house, when a thought suddenly strikes me. Earlier the thought of annoying Zelda in some trivial way wasn't enough of a reason for me to help Link. But now… I look back down the street at Zelda's retreating back.

'You want a fight?' I mutter under my breath. 'Then game on, bitch.'

-o-

'Right! Now listen up Link, because I'm only going to say this once. If you want to get the girl, you're going to have to be smart about this. Since you've never had a girlfriend and seem to have about as much natural ability to woo the fairer sex as a carrot, you are incapable of being smart about this. So I'm going to have to be smart for you. Which means you listen to and obey my every order. Understand?' Link nods, slightly stunned from my rant. After I told him I'd changed my mind and decided to help him, he immediately came over to my room, where we're now working on our plan of attack.

'Good. Now, to do this, we need to follow a three-step plan. Step 1: reconnaissance. We need to know what we're dealing with here. That means finding out the situation with Zelda and Ganon. Just because they seem to be spending a lot of time together, doesn't mean they're an item. We can't afford to just guess this. We also need to find out more about Zelda: her likes, dislikes, and in particular which of those categories you fall into.

Next, Step 2: making her jealous. Nothing makes a girl like Zelda want something more than being told she can't have it. For this step, you're going to have to pretend that you are totally uninterested in her. I know it'll be hard but believe me, once she thinks you're not into her she'll be all over you.' At this point Link raises a tentative hand, looking very confused.

'Er… why?' I sigh theatrically.

'Because! Zelda is used to having guys swoon all over her. But if she meets a guy who apparently isn't affected by her charm, she'll start to get worried. She'll think, have I lost my touch? What's so amazing about this guy that he thinks he's too good for me? And trust me, she'll do anything to prove this amazing guy wrong and make him go out with her.

And that leads us smoothly onto Step 3, the most important: the big date. Once we know Zelda and Ganon are split up, and Zelda is suitably obsessed with you, you need to ask her out. But this is difficult. If you drop the whole act and give her the kind of puppy love you've been using up until now, she'll lose all respect for you and turn you down. But if you act too aloof, she'll think you're not serious and also turn you down. So we need to walk that narrow line between the two.

Now, we're working against a deadline for this one. At the end of August – the 22nd, to be precise – there's going to be a party. It's held every year by one of the guys at our school, Pipit. Anyone who's anyone is going to be there, and anyone who's anyone is going to bring a date. If you turn up with someone to that party, it can safely be assumed that you two are an item and will be for the foreseeable future. Basically, if you want to broadcast to the world and to Zelda in particular that you two are together, you have to get her to go to that party with you.

So, today's July 27th. That means we've got a little under a month to get from where we are now – which is Zelda thinking of you as no better than the dirt on her shoe – to where you want to be – which is Zelda thinking the sun shines out your ass. Link, we've got a lot of work to do.'

-o-

I look up from my comic when I hear the front door slam. I leap up and race downstairs, taking the stairs three at a time and clearing half the flight in one leap before tackling Sheik into a hug.

'Thank Din you're okay!' I tell him. He seems bemused by the attention, but recovers quickly.

'Er, yeah, I'm fine. Why are you so worried, Tetra?'

'Why wouldn't I worry? You are my brother, after all. It's my duty to take care of you, since you clearly can't take care of yourself.' Sheik smiles, but looking more closely at him I can see that he's exhausted. The long journey back from the park on foot must have tired him out.

'And how's Aryll? She wasn't too upset, was she?'

'No, not really. She said her bike was getting old and she was going to ask her uncle for a new one for her birthday anyway. We're both fine. How was your run-in with Zelda and Ganon?'

'Not great. But I've got the perfect revenge plot. Listen.' I briefly explain my idea to help Link, including the three-stage plan. 'I'm going to need help from you and Aryll as well. Come up to my room, we'll go see Link and we can all sort out our jobs for tomorrow.' Sheik raises his eyebrows in surprise.

'Tomorrow? Isn't that moving a bit quickly?'

'The sooner we get revenge on Zelda, the better. And anyway, we've got less than a month until Pipit's party. It's going to take Link a long time to woo Zelda, so we need to get started. Now come on.' I lead him up to my room where, to my surprise, Link and Aryll are already waiting.

'I told her about your plan,' Link explains. 'She wanted to help. I told her there was nothing she could do, but…'

'No, there probably is something you can do,' I tell the downcast Aryll, making her immediately perk up.

'Really? What?'

'You can help us find out more about Zelda. If Link, Sheik or I go around asking questions Zelda will get suspicious. But you're small and cute. You can find stuff out for us. Like what Zelda thinks of Ganon and Link, and any other gossip you can pick up. Do you know anyone you can casually ask about that?' Aryll thinks for a moment, before her face brightens.

'There's a girl who lives a couple doors down from us, Romani. I met her yesterday, and she invited me over for tomorrow. Her older sister, Cremia, is one of Zelda's best friends. I bet I can ask her some stuff!'

'That's brilliant, Aryll!' I tell her. 'And meanwhile, Link and I will get started on stage 2. The one where Link plays hard-to-get.' Link sighs and passes a hand over his face.

'Tetra, I'm not sure about this. I don't really know how to-'

'Don't worry, I'll show you! It's not hard. And you have to try it. I mean, your way wasn't exactly working, was it?' Link grunts noncommittally. 'Don't try to deny it, it wasn't. So now you'll have to try my way. Tomorrow morning, you are going to make Zelda jealous like she's never been jealous before.'

-o-

The next morning I'm awakened by a soft tapping on my windowpane.

'Ugh… Go away!' I shout, although it's barely audible through the pillow I hold over my face.

'Tetra? You did say we were going to start work today,' says Link reproachfully. I sigh as my brain rises from the mists of unconsciousness. I did say that.

'Fine. Give me ten minutes.' I quickly eat and dress, then head over to Link's house, only to find him already waiting outside the front door.

'So… how exactly are we going to do this?'

'We need to show Zelda that you're not interested in her. The first thing to do is to draw her attention to that fact. Let's see…' I look around the deserted street, thinking. To be perfectly honest, I've never done this before, so my knowledge of seducing a girl on someone else's behalf is entirely taken from the very few romantic movies I've watched. Still, Link seems to think I know what I'm doing. That makes one of us.

Suddenly I catch sight of a figure coming down the street towards us: the mailman. He waves at us as he passes, then goes across the street to Zelda's house, carrying a parcel. As he approaches the front door inspiration strikes, and I call out to him.

'Hey! Is that parcel for the Harkinians? Yeah, they're not in. But I'm their neighbour, I'll hang on to it for them if you like.' The mailman looks suspicious for a moment, but in the face of my sunniest smile his expression turns to gratitude and he hands over the parcel. I wait until he's out of sight before turning to Link.

'What do you think's in here?' I ask, giving the parcel a shake.

'Hopefully nothing fragile,' Link replies. 'So why exactly do we need Zelda's parcel?'

'Because it's not a parcel, it's an excuse. An excuse to talk to her, and in doing so show her that you're not interested in her.' Link frowns.

'But surely lying about a delivery so as to have an excuse to talk to her is exactly what I'd do if I _was_ interested in her?'

'Yes, but it all depends on what you talk about. There'll be no puppy eyes this time, no pathetic smiling, no fishing for offers to be invited in. You're just going to go over there, ring the doorbell, hand her the parcel and leave. Act like it's the last thing you want to be doing, and definitely don't get sucked into any small talk. Reply to any of her questions with the shortest answers you can think of – you can even grunt, if necessary. Don't worry about coming off rude, that's what we're going for here. Don't make eye contact, don't smile, just shove the parcel into her hands and go. Think you can manage that?' Link swallows.

'I-I'll try. Just give it to her and get out as quickly as possible, right?'

'Exactly. Look at it this way. Is there anyone you really hate, someone you'd do anything to avoid talking to?'

'There was this guy called Ravio at my old school. He was awful. Always hanging around me.'

'Right. Now, when you see Zelda, imagine that instead of the girl of your dreams she's this Ravio guy. That should help.'

'Okay, I'll do it!' I smile to myself as Link takes the parcel from me and heads determinedly across the street. He certainly seems confident. But this is the moment of truth. Link was right before, Zelda could see this as him looking for an excuse to talk to her because he has a crush on her. If he messes this up, it's going to make it a lot harder to make her jealous. But I have faith in him. Well, a little.

-o-

I hold my breath as Link rings the doorbell. He waits outside the door, looking bored. Excellent work so far. The door opens and every muscle in my body tenses as I see Zelda standing there. Her eyebrows go up slightly when she sees who it is, and she rolls her eyes. But her expression changes to one of surprise when Link shoves the parcel into her hands, says a few brief words of explanation, then spins on his heel and walks straight back towards me.

Zelda calls out to Link and he stops, and for one horrible moment I wonder if he's going to drop the cool act and ruin everything. But I can see the disdain clearly on his face as he folds his arms, practically glaring at Zelda, and she starts to stutter. I grin as I see how thrown she is by Link's new attitude. It's as though the wolf has cornered the sheep, only to find the sheep sporting a set of teeth that put the wolf to shame. Link's beating her at her own game.

Still, Zelda makes a half-hearted effort, gesturing back to her house and asking Link to come in, but he just snorts, actually snorts, and turns away from her. Zelda closes the door slowly, confusion evident in every line of her frown. Link starts to speed up once she's gone but I motion to him to slow down, as Zelda could still be watching. But when he finally reaches me he can't contain himself.

'That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life!' he whispers, making me raise my eyebrows.

'Seriously? How easy has your life been? The mailman does what you just did every day, and I don't hear him complaining.'

'Yeah, but the mailman doesn't have crush on Zelda,' Link says, lying back on the grass. I bet he does, I think to myself as I lie back next to Link. After all, everyone else does.

-o-

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be up tomorrow!


	4. Chapter 4

'So, little spy-in-training, what did we learn?' I ask Aryll as she arrives home from seeing Romani.

'I asked all the stuff you told me to!' she replies, beaming. 'But don't worry, I made sure Romani isn't suspicious. She idolises Zelda, because she's so cool and popular and pretty and stuff, so now she just thinks I idolise Zelda too!'

'Good work. Now tell me everything.'

'Okay. So first I asked about Zelda and Ganondorf. It turns out they're not actually properly going out, they're just acting all lovey-dovey for the look of the thing. Ganon isn't that keen on Zelda, he's just doing it so that he can say he's dating the girl that all the boys want to be going out with.' I nod slowly. Yeah, that sounds about right. Ganon is nothing if not a show-off.

'But what's in it for Zelda?'

'Apparently Romani's sister Cremia was asking Zelda about that, because she thought it was weird too. Zelda's with Ganon partly because she's sort of attracted to him because he's a bad boy, but mostly she just likes the idea of going around with a boy her father would disapprove of. It's more showing off.' Ah, right. Well, Zelda's father would certainly disapprove. Although I can't say I see Zelda's point about the bad boy attraction of Ganon. The idea of going out with a guy who looks and acts as though he'd quite happily shoot me in the head has never appealed.

'And what does she think about Link?'

'According to Romani, she doesn't think a lot of him. She sees him the same way she sees every other guy: an idiot who drools over her, to be manipulated to her heart's content.' I think it's fair to say all that's changed after today. At this point Link enters the kitchen and I quickly summarise what we've learnt from Aryll.

'It sounds like Zelda and Ganon aren't proper girlfriend and boyfriend, each of them is just pretending that they are to boost their own popularity. So that should make it easier to break them up. Ganon is going to be a problem, he'll probably be pretty annoyed at you, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. What we need to do now is make Zelda think that going out with you would give her a bigger popularity boost than Ganon would.'

'And how do we do that?'

'More of the same. Keep acting like an ice queen – or king, in your case. Then when she goes out with you she can brag to all her friends about how you weren't interested in any girls, but she made you change your mind. Trust me, that'll make her popular. Keep up the good work from today, and she'll be begging to be asked out in no time.'

-o-

The next day dawns, bright and sunny just like every other day. I practically skip over to Link's house, eager to begin another day of annoying Zelda. It's strangely satisfying to see the confusion on her face when this formerly pathetic boy turns her down. Then again, this is revenge for all she and her friends have done to me and my brother over the years, so I don't feel too bad about it.

Link is already lying on his stomach on the grass in his front yard, reading one of the comics I lent Aryll. I sneak up behind him and suddenly leap onto his back, making him yell in surprise. Once his heart has stopped racing he looks at me reproachfully, but I'm too busy rolling on the ground laughing to care.

'Are you quite done?' he asks eventually when my giggles subside. I smile at the angry expression on his face.

'Not quite,' I tell him, before giving in to another bout of laughter. Finally, I recover properly, and manage to look Link in the eye. 'Sorry, I just couldn't resist.'

'Yeah, whatever. So what's the plan for today?'

'Today's plan-' I cut off abruptly, seeing the door open across the road. 'Don't turn around. Zelda's coming out,' I whisper to Link, before laughing loudly, as if at some joke Link just told. 'No way, she did what?' I ask Link, motioning for him to play along. He looks perplexed for a moment, then realisation dawns.

'Yeah, she just stood there staring at me. It was hilarious!'

'Sounds like it. And then what? You just walked off?'

'Pretty much. She muttered something about inviting me in, but I wasn't really listening.' I laugh again and put an arm round Link's shoulders.

'I wish I'd been there for that!' Out of the corner of my eye I watch Zelda, standing stock still and staring at us. She clearly knows we're talking about her encounter with Link yesterday. Then she shakes herself and crosses the road, before setting of in the direction of Cremia's house. As she passes us she glares at me and waves cheerily at Link, greeting him. But to my relief he just ignores her, putting his arm round me and pulling me down onto the grass.

'You know, I'm so glad I met you, Tetra,' he says slightly louder than normal as Zelda passes. 'You're so different from all the other girls I've met.' Zelda looks away and stalks off, nose in the air. Obviously she's not used to being ignored. When she's safely out of earshot Link turns to me. 'How was that?'

'Sterling work, but don't overdo it. We don't want her thinking you and I are together.'

'Why not? Wouldn't that make her even more jealous?' I lie there in silence for a moment, thinking about it.

'We-ell, yes, it would, but then you and I would have to act like a couple. You know, kissing and stuff. I don't think you could handle that.' Link shrugs.

'You'd be surprised what I can handle.' And with that he goes silent, leaving me lying on the grass, eyes wide, wondering what exactly he meant by that.

-o-

The days roll by, each one very much like the last. Every morning I go over to Link's house. We laze about in the front yard until Zelda emerges, at which point Link ignores her or otherwise demonstrates that he's no longer interested. After she goes off in a huff, Link and I spend the rest of the day doing… well, whatever we feel like.

Every morning Zelda seems more and more put out by Link's behaviour, and she glares at me with murder in her eyes. Clearly she suspects that I'm part of the reason Link is ignoring her. If only she knew. Link is also getting more confident, and I have more confidence in him, until eventually I trust him enough to let him handle Zelda on his own, while I have a lie-in. I'm in the middle of one such doze when a rapping on my bedroom door jerks me out of my slumber.

'Go away,' I mutter sleepily. 'Piss off, Sheik.'

'It's Link! I need to tell you something! Right now!' My eyelids flicker open when I hear him. He sounds panicky, not what I need at this early hour. I roll over and check the clock: 11:30. By now Link's probably already had his morning run-in with Zelda, and if he sounds so worried something must have gone badly wrong. Groaning, I haul myself upright and open the door. Link immediately launches into a torrent of words, but I stall him with a hand.

'Food first. Then talk.' I lead Link downstairs and try to remember the sequence of movements to make breakfast, while from the sound of it Link has a panic attack behind me. Sheik is already sitting at the table, but he raises an eyebrow and leaves silently when he sees the two of us. My brother has mostly kept out of our plotting and scheming, and apparently that isn't going to change now. Eventually I sit down with a pile of cold pancakes in front of me, and gesture for Link to begin.

'Now don't be mad,' he starts, and my heart immediately sinks. Uh oh. If that's the way he's starting, I dread to think where he's going with this.

'Alright, I'm prepared for the worst. What happened?'

'Zelda came over this morning, you know, like she normally does. And I ignored her, like I normally do. Only this time she didn't just go away like she normally does. She sat down and started talking to me. And I tried not saying anything back, but that just seemed too mean. After all, if I want her to like me I can't act like a total jerk. But then she started asking me things I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer.' I narrow my eyes.

'Explain.'

 _'So, Link, you've been acting pretty weird around me lately,' Zelda says, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye._

 _'Not really,' I reply, as confidently as possible. 'I mean, I tried to be nice when we first met, but you and I don't exactly have much in common.'_

 _'Really?' Zelda asks, shifting closer. 'I think we've got loads in common.'_

 _'Such as?' I ask, raising an eyebrow and trying to steady my breathing, which accelerates as Zelda comes even closer. Wow, I'd forgotten how beautiful she is._

'Yes, yes, we all know you're obsessed with Zelda,' I tell Link, rolling my eyes. 'I assume that's not the problem. So…?'

 _Zelda ignores my question, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her pointed ear._

 _'So now I'm thinking that maybe there's some other reason you're avoiding me.' I do my best to snort derisively, but it comes out rather strangled._

 _'I'm not avoiding you.'_

 _'Oh, come on, Link. I'm not stupid. And I'm not angry, either. I just want to know why you're acting like this. So then I can change it.' I swallow hard._

 _'Th-there's no reason.'_

 _'I don't believe that. There's someone else, isn't there?'_ My jaw drops open.

'What? Why in Din's name would Zelda think that? And more importantly, what did you say?'

 _I think frantically, trying to escape the rising tide of panic in my mind. What would Tetra tell me to say if she was here?_

 _'Er… yes. Yes, there is someone else. I'm going out with another girl.' Zelda sits back and watches me closely. Is it my imagination, or does she look… disappointed? Yes, it's very faint, but she's definitely not happy that I'm already in a relationship. Well, that proves I'm on the right track. Now I just need to stick to my guns to convince her._

 _Well?' Zelda asks after a moment. My brow furrows._

 _'Well what?'_

 _'Who is she?'_ I stare at Link, breakfast forgotten.

'What did you say?' Link blushes deeply, and a horrible premonition forms in my mind. 'Oh no. You didn't.'

 _Thoughts race through my mind as I try desperately to think of someone, anyone, I could be going out with. I don't know any girls! Except…_

 _'It's Tetra,' I tell Zelda. 'I'm going out with Tetra.'_

-o-

'For the last time, I'm sorry! I panicked, okay?'

'It is not okay! What in Farore's name possessed you to say we were together? I am _not_ pretending to be your girlfriend!' I yell at Link.

'What's all this about you being Link's girlfriend?' Sheik says with a grin, poking his head back into the kitchen. But the smile falls from his face when he sees my expression.

'Do you know what this- this idiot said to Zelda? He said the reason he wasn't interested in her was because he was already in a relationship. With me. Why in Hyrule would you say that?'

'You're the only girl I know other than Aryll, and I obviously couldn't say I was going out with her! I needed to say something and you were the first name that came to mind! I'm sorry, I wish I hadn't said it, but I did, so now we need to work with this lie.' He pauses, red in the face, and I'm silent for a moment while I also try to catch my breath. In the silence Sheik steps between us and turns to face me.

'Link's right, Tetra. It's… unfortunate that Zelda thinks the two of you are together, but if you go over there and tell her he lied she'll only get suspicious, and that will make this whole charade of yours a waste. I know you don't want to, but you need to play along.'

I close my eyes and count to ten in my head, trying to resist the urge to punch my brother. No way am I going to pretend to be Link's girlfriend! But much though I hate to admit it, the boys have a point. Now that Link's gotten us into this mess I _have_ to go along with it, or else Zelda will see through Link's act and she'll immediately lose interest in him. Although at this point I feel like that would serve him right.

'…Fine. But I'm laying down some ground rules right now. For a start, there will be no kissing. In fact, no physical contact whatsoever. Alright, maybe holding hands. But that's it. And no soppy PDAs either.'

'PDAs?' Link asks, frowning and making me roll my eyes.

'Nayru, don't you know anything, Link? PDA! Public Display of Affection! None of that. After all, Zelda thinks that we've been going out in secret all this time, so if we change our behaviour now it's going to look suspicious. No, the best thing to do is to keep doing exactly what we've been doing, but maybe we kick it up a notch. Just one notch, though. No need to overdo it. Well, Link?' I ask, folding my arms. He looks unsure about this, but it was his idea.

'This is the best deal you're going to get,' Sheik points out. Link sighs in defeat.

'Fine, we'll do it your way. Just as long as Zelda doesn't suspect anything.'

-o-

'Door opening, six o'clock,' Link murmurs.

'Whose six o'clock? Yours or mine?' I mutter back.

'Behind you, okay?' I don't bother to glance around. Today is the morning after Link's supposed confession of our relationship, so it's the first time Zelda is seeing me and Link together. I lie back on the grass in Link's front yard, trying to act nonchalant. It was easy before, when I was just helping Link, but now I'm an active part of his lies I'm suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Link lies down next to me and rolls onto his side, so close that our noses touch. He shifts slightly closer to me, and my eyes widen. _I said no kissing!_ I try to yell telepathically. But before things get out of hand we hear a pointed cough from the sidewalk.

'Good morning, Link,' Zelda says, ignoring me. 'I was wondering if you wanted to come over today?'

'Sorry, he's busy,' I interject before Link has a chance to speak. Zelda fixes me with a cold, blue-eyed stare.

'Oh?'

'Yeah, we're going to see a movie together. But thanks for the offer, anyway.' I turn back to Link, smiling and snuggling closer to him on the grass. Zelda sniffs and stalks off, but I catch a glimpse of her looking over her shoulder as she goes.

'That went well,' Link comments, moving away from me when Zelda's gone.

'Extremely well. You do realise you just got asked out on a date?' I say, sitting up. When there's no response I turn to Link and see him staring at me, mouth open and eyes wide.

'Wait, that was a date?'

'You really don't know anything, do you? Yes, that was a date!'

'But I want to go on a date with Zelda! This was our goal, remember? To get her to go out with me? Why did you say I couldn't go?'

'Link, Zelda's just found out that the guy she has a crush on – because she does have a crush on you, now – is going out with one of her worst enemies. She didn't just ask you out because she likes you, she asked you out to get one over on me. She's not that into you yet, it's just about stealing a guy from me.

Think about it. You just told her you've already got a girlfriend. Don't you think it would look a little bit suspicious if you were completely willing to go out on a date with Zelda the very next day, especially when you and I are still ostensibly together? She'd see right through the act, and she's not interested enough to go out with you for your own sake. Once she thinks she's broken the two of us up, she'd ditch you in days. We need to wait until she's much more jealous. _Then_ I'll let you go on a date with her.' Link sighs.

'I guess you might have a point. So what do we do now?' I shrug.

'We may as well go see a movie. I wouldn't put it past Zelda to spy on us, and it's going to look suspicious if we don't actually go. Besides, I like the idea of a movie.' Link sighs again.

'I'll get my stuff.'

-o-

A few hours later, Link and I walk out of the movie theatre, laughing and smiling. The movie actually wasn't bad, and it made a nice change from lazing around on the grass all day. But suddenly I look up and gasp.

'Link, over there! No, don't look now.'

'What's going on?' Link whispers.

'Zelda and Ganon! They're standing right over there! They must have seen the movie too.' Next to me I can feel Link's hand balling into a fist.

'What's she still doing with Ganon? I thought those two weren't really together?'

'Don't worry, I'm sure she only brought him to make you jealous. She's showing off with her boyfriend to make you interested. But it's not going to work, right? Right, Link?' I give him a meaningful look, and he sags.

'Right.'

'Good. Now let's show them how it's done.' I slip my hand into Link's and laugh loudly at an imaginary joke. 'Oh Link, thank you so much for taking me to that movie, I loved it!' I coo, seeing Zelda and Ganon out of the corner of my eye, watching us. 'You know me so well,' I continue, resting my head on Link's shoulder. Link and I stride determinedly past the other couple, but as we pass I feel Link stiffen almost imperceptibly. Looking round I see Zelda kissing Ganon passionately, but I can see her watching Link as she does so. Pathetic.

'Let's go,' I mutter to Link. He seems unwilling to move, but I drag him along. 'Come on, before you do something stupid.' And the look on Link's face convinces me that he's thinking of doing something very stupid indeed.

-o-

'You okay?' I ask Link as we walk home.

'Yeah…' he sighs, and I roll my eyes.

'Either spill the beans or stay silent, but stop the melodramatic sighs. You're upset about Zelda, aren't you?'

'I guess there's no point in hiding it.'

'I told you already, she was just trying to make you jealous. Don't let her succeed this easily!'

'I know, but really, how far are we going to go with this? I like her, she clearly now likes me, how much longer are we going to keep up this act before you actually let me go on a date with her? We've got less than two weeks until Pipit's party. You're cutting this a bit fine.'

'Don't worry about it. As soon as I'm sure Zelda is really interested, and not just in scoring off me, I'll let you two lovebirds fly off into the sunset together. It'll be a few more days, max. By the end of this week, you two will be together, giving you plenty of time to get to know her before the party.'

'Fine, but what if things go wrong with her and Ganon? And by that I mean right. What if she spends so much time pretending to like him to make me jealous, that she actually falls for him?'

'Yeah, what are the chances of that happening? After all, you and I are doing the exact same thing. Are you falling for me?'

'No,' Link answers, and for a moment I wonder if he replied just a millisecond too quickly. But I put it down to my imagination. 'I'm just worried, okay?'

'I know. No-one wants to compete with a guy like Ganon. But you're not competing, Zelda likes you, not him. And if worst comes to worst, if Ganon really does get too involved, I'll… sabotage him somehow. Don't worry about him. I've got your back.'

'Yeah…' Link trails off with another sigh. I'm about to reprimand him for this when thunder rumbles overhead. Looking up at the sky I realise it's covered by thick grey clouds, threatening imminent rain. As if they can sense my scrutiny, the heavens suddenly open, instantly drenching the two of us. Wordlessly we sprint for Link's house, which is fortunately very close, and stand panting on the covered porch.

'That was fun,' Link remarks sarcastically.

'Yeah. I'm just glad I'm not wearing a white t-shirt!' I reply, sitting down on the edge of the porch and staring out into the torrential rain. Link sits down next to me, resting his chin on his knees.

'So what do we do now?' he asks, struggling to be heard over the rain. 'What's our plan of attack?'

'We need to wait a bit longer, to give Zelda time to get really jealous. Ideally we should also work more on our "relationship", but I don't see how that's going to be possible, short of breaking those ground rules I laid out. Then, when I judge that Zelda's ready, you hint to her that you're not entirely happy with me, and you might possibly be convinced to cheat on me with her.

When you tell her that she'll hopefully try everything she can to convince you fully, at which point you start up a relationship with her in secret, testing the waters, and once you're sure she's hooked you announce that you've broken up with me and are ready to become her official boyfriend. With a bit of luck, we'll have time for all that before the party. It should work.'

'And if it doesn't?' I turn to Link, but he's looking out at the rain, not watching me.

'…It will work. Otherwise, I've got no more ideas.' Link sighs again.

'Yeah, that's what I thought.' There's silence between us as we listen to the rain hammering on the roof. I wonder briefly where Sheik is, then vaguely remember him saying something about going out somewhere with Aryll. I just hope those two weren't caught in this storm.

'Tetra? Can I… ask you something?' Link says eventually.

'I think you just did. But it's fine, ask away,' I reply, not really focusing.

'Do you mind that I want to go out with Zelda?' Link asks quietly. I turn to him, shocked.

'Do you really think I'd be helping you like this if I minded?' I ask incredulously.

'I don't know. That's why I asked.' When I don't answer, Link continues. 'You see, as you've pointed out many times, I don't know anything about girls. But I do know that it must be pretty annoying for you, having to help me so much only for me to go out with someone else.'

'Link, I'd only be annoyed if I liked you, which I don't,' I reply, sounding much more confident than I feel. Where in Din's name is this coming from? Why does Link suddenly think I like him?

'Okay then. I just wanted to check,' Link says, looking down at the ground. Is he… disappointed? No, he can't be. And even if he is, I'm sure he's just generally disappointed that a girl doesn't think he's worthy of being liked. It's definitely not because he likes me himself. What am I even saying? Since when do I care what Link thinks about me?

'Link, are you sure you want to go through with this?' a voice asks, and I'm shocked to realise it's my own. I bite my lip, but the words are out there now. There's no taking them back.

'I… think so.'

'You think so? Link, that's not good enough. You need to be committed.'

'I am committed! It's just…' Link trails off and looks at me, his blue eyes staring into mine. I become suddenly and uncomfortably aware of how close we are. Link leans in slightly, and unconsciously I do the same, until our lips are brushing against each other. We lean closer…

-o-

A/N: I do love a good cliffhanger. Especially since I know what happens next. But the rest of you are going to have to wait until tomorrow...


	5. Chapter 5

Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes the tree in the front yard, startling us and making me push roughly away from Link. We both look from the tree back to each other, but as Link leans forward slightly I leap to my feet and sprint for my house, disregarding the pouring rain. I dash inside, slamming the door, and race upstairs to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face until I'm gasping for breath.

'Didn't you get wet enough outside?' a male voice from the door asks. I spin round, wondering how in Din's name Link got in here, until I see that it's only Sheik. 'Are you okay?' my brother asks, watching me with concern. I breathe heavily, trying to calm myself down.

'No. I wouldn't say that.'

'What happened?'

'First things first, what happened to you? I thought you were out with Aryll,' I reply, trying to stall while I think of a way to tell Sheik what happened. And also to give myself time to work over what happened. I can't even think about it.

'We saw the weather and came back early,' Sheik says with a casual shrug. 'Now you.' I swallow, wondering what to say. On the one hand, there's no way I can tell Sheik that I nearly kissed our next-door neighbour. But on the other, my brother and I don't hide anything from each other, and I don't want to start doing that now.

'Fine. Now for a start, don't freak out. Because right now I'm freaking out enough for both of us.' Sheik narrows his eyes.

'Okay…' I take a deep breath.

'Link and I nearly kissed.' Sheik's eyebrows rise slightly, but he doesn't look anywhere near as surprised as I thought he would.

'Oh, is that all? That's fine, then. I thought it was something major.' I stare at my brother in incomprehension.

'What do you mean, something major? Nearly kissing someone I'm not supposed to like _is_ something major!'

'Not really. To be honest, I thought you two had kissed already.'

'Wh-what? Why would you think that?'

'It was bound to happen. The two of you are now in a fake relationship, right? And even before that, you were spending so much time with this guy. You were bound to consider a relationship with him at some point. I'm surprised it took this long.'

'Me kissing – or nearly kissing – Link was not a foregone conclusion. And I'm not considering a relationship with him. It was a stupid mistake, and I'm just glad we got interrupted.' Sheik gives me a 'yeah right' look. 'I'm serious. Imagine how awkward things would be if we had kissed.'

'They're going to be even more awkward now. If you had kissed, at least you'd know whether you wanted to do it again or not. Nearly kissing just makes you curious about what you didn't get.' I glare at him.

'I'm not curious. I just want to forget it ever happened, okay?'

'Fine. So whose idea was this kiss?'

'It wasn't really planned. We just sort of… went for it.'

'Sounds romantic,' Sheik says with a smirk. I grab a wet flannel from the sink and lob it at him, smiling at the satisfying thwump it makes as it hits his face.

'Thank you,' he says sarcastically, peeling the sodden cloth off him. 'Well, as long as you think you've got it under control.'

'I do,' I say firmly.

'Alright then. And you definitely don't want to go out with him, do you?' my brother asks, throwing me off guard.

'What? I just said-'

'I know, but you need to be sure. Because if you do like Link, you need to speak now or forever hold your peace. You can't wait until he's going out with Zelda to say something. That isn't fair on him or you. So by all means pretend the kiss didn't happen, keep helping Link get Zelda, tell yourself you're not in love with him. But you have to be sure, Tetra, because if you're not you're going to get badly hurt.' Silently Sheik goes back to his room, leaving me standing in the bathroom, dripping wet and very confused.

-o-

I raise my hand to ring the doorbell, then hesitate. After what happened yesterday afternoon, I'm not overly keen to see Link again. But Zelda will emerge from her house any moment now, so I need to check my supposed boyfriend is actually awake, if we're going to show off in front of her again. I was going to try to talk to Link last night, but the pouring rain dissuaded me. So it'll have to be today. Eventually I realise that I still haven't rang the doorbell and have no intention of doing so, so I settle for standing outside Link's house and yelling his name at the top of my voice.

'Would you mind keeping the noise down?' a nasal voice from behind me asks. I spin round and see Zelda, hands on hips, glaring at me.

'What's your problem?' I reply, with as much self-restraint as I can manage – which isn't much. An encounter with this bully is the last thing I need right now.

'What do you want to see Link for, anyway?' Zelda asks, tossing her hair.

'Um… he's my boyfriend, remember?' I ask, wondering why she's chosen to forget this fact.

'Really? After yesterday, you two are still together?' My blood freezes. Zelda saw us. How could she have seen us?

'What about yesterday?' I ask, trying to pull together a veneer of arrogance. I can't let her see how much her revelation has shaken me. I really don't want Zelda to suspect that Link and I aren't as close as we say we are. Zelda rolls her eyes.

'Oh, come on. I saw you! Link tried to kiss you, and you just ran off. He's not going to be happy with you this morning.'

'Oh yeah, and what do you know about Link?' I ask, my hands balling into fists. 'Just because I didn't kiss him, you really think our relationship is going to fall apart? We're not like you and Ganon!' Zelda flushes red, and narrows her eyes at me.

'Low shot, Nohansen. And I know more about Link than you think. For instance, I know that if anything ever happens between you two, he'll come straight to me. And maybe even if you two are still together…' She smirks at me, and now I'm the one going red. Dammit. I really thought it was working, I really thought Zelda was getting jealous, but despite all our efforts Zelda knows that Link would still come running if she called. I close my eyes and take a few breaths to calm myself. You can do this, Tetra.

'Maybe you haven't realised, but Link doesn't love you, Zelda. He likes _me_. I know it's hard for your ego to accept that you're not the only girl in the world who can attract a boy, but you're not, and I'm one of those other girls. Link and I are together, and we're happy. If you'd like to keep your nose out of our relationship, I'd be very grateful.' With that I turn on my heel and stride off back to my house, Link forgotten.

-o-

A few hours later, when there's still no sign of my 'boyfriend', I hesitantly crawl out onto the tree between our windows. Link can ignore me if I'm at his door, but he can't ignore me if I'm in his room. And after almost a full day of silence, I'm convinced he is ignoring me. But as I make it into the cradle of branches halfway across, I stop suddenly.

I can see Link from here, sitting at his desk. There's a book in front of him, but he's not reading. His eyes stare blankly at the wall, and suddenly they shift to me, perched awkwardly in the tree. I raise a hand in greeting, but he doesn't respond. I sigh, wondering if he's angry. Yesterday after the lightning strike, it looked like Link was going to try to kiss me again. He was definitely leaning in. And then I shoved him and ran off. I can see why he might be offended by that.

I lock eyes with him and mouthe, _I'm sorry_. He sighs and looks away, but I don't leave, hoping that he'll decide to forgive me. After a few minutes of silence, my heart leaps in my chest as Link gets up from his desk and opens his window, climbing out and meeting me halfway in the tree.

'Why are you sorry?' he asks, but keeps his eyes fixed on the ground below.

'You know why.'

'Spell it out.' I sigh, gently placing a hand on his cheek and turning his face towards me.

'I'm sorry I freaked out and ran off when you tried to kiss me. Okay?'

'…Okay.'

'Really? You forgive me?' I ask excitedly, then without waiting for an answer I fling my arms round Link's neck and hug him. We nearly tumble out of the tree, but just manage to cling on. 'Sorry about that too,' I tell him bashfully.

'Don't worry about it. And… I'm sorry I tried to kiss you. It's not like I wanted to – I mean, I did want to, obviously, but it wasn't because I like you – I mean, not like that. I was just… with the rain and everything… and after the movie… and we were sitting so close… I kind of felt like I should. Sorry, that's a terrible reason.'

'It's not,' I tell Link, taking a deep breath. Ever since I saw Zelda this morning, I've been slowly coming to an unwelcome realisation. 'And it's good that you're thinking about kissing me, because… we're probably going to have to actually kiss at some point. Soon.' When Link turns to me in shock I briefly explain what I learnt from Zelda.

'She thinks you and I are about to break up, and when we do you'll go straight to her. Now, I know you're excited about that, but I don't think she's ready yet. Remember what I said, she's only doing this to score off me. We need to make her even more jealous, which means we need to keep up this relationship. And the best way to prove to her that we're still going strong would be to kiss.'

'…Alright,' Link says after a moment. 'I guess you've got a point. But Tetra, I'm only going to do this if you really want to. Zelda or no Zelda, I'm not going to force you to waste your first kiss on me unless you're sure.' I splutter in indignation.

'Why in Nayru's name would you think this is my first kiss?' I manage, but Link just shrugs.

'Intuition. Also Sheik told me.' I growl under my breath, making a mental note to murder my brother the next time I see him.

'Fine, it is my first kiss, but it's yours too. And if I am going to waste my first kiss, I think you're a pretty good guy to waste it on. There's certainly no-one else I'd rather kiss.' I bite my lip as I finish, wishing I hadn't said that last part. But Link doesn't seem to have heard me.

'Well, if you're sure. So I guess at some point we are going to have to kiss in front of Zelda. Do you, er…' He trails off and looks at the ground. 'Do you have any tips?' I burst out laughing, unable to believe my ears.

'Link, it's a kiss, not rocket science. You nearly managed it yesterday, why do you think you can't manage it today?'

'Alright, don't mock me. I'm just nervous of screwing this up. I don't want to ruin your first kiss for you.' I sober up at this. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about that. I suppose I do want my first kiss to be special, or at least decent, and there's a good chance that now it won't be.

'Well… you could always practice…' I say hesitantly.

'On who?' I try to fight the blush that rises in my cheeks, but to no avail.

'Look, I'm not particularly happy about this, but it's not like I've got any experience either. Maybe you and I should… practice… a kiss now, so that when we do it in public we know what we're doing.' Link swallows.

'O-okay. How do you want to start?' I roll my eyes.

'Link, you're overthinking this. Just lean in and kiss me. Like yesterday. Only I promise not to run away this time.' Link nods and takes a few breaths. Then he closes his eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, leans towards me. After a few moments I realise that at this rate it'll take all afternoon for him to reach me. Something has to be done.

Taking a deep breath, I wrap my arms around Link's neck, close my eyes, lean in, and kiss him.

-o-

Link's eyes widen as our lips meet and he tries to pull back, but I hang on grimly. After a few seconds he relents and leans in, pulling me closer. We stay like that, tangled in each other's arms, until finally I have to surface for breath. We shuffle away from each other guiltily, but as I look sidelong at Link I see him watching me with a smile on his face.

'Well…'

'Yep.'

'That was…'

'Exactly.'

'So…'

'My thoughts precisely.'

'What do we do now?' he asks finally. I shrug.

'Same as we were doing before. Only now we've got a new weapon in our arsenal: kissing. Next time we run into Zelda, let's show her just how far from breaking up we are.' Link nods thoughtfully.

'And you're still okay with doing that, right Tetra? I mean, nothing's changed because of our kiss, has it?' I look at Link in surprise.

'Er, no. Why would it have done? Has anything changed for _you_?' Link shakes his head.

'Nothing whatsoever. I just wanted to be sure.'

'Great. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow.'

'See you.' We each climb back into our respective windows. I shut mine carefully and draw the curtains across, making sure I can't be seen or heard by Link. Once I'm sure I'm alone, I sigh heavily.

'You really didn't feel _anything_?' I ask quietly.

-o-

I narrow my eyes and peer through the gloom as the ship approaches the Forsaken Fortress. Bokoblin-powered searchlights rove across the waves, but we avoid them with ease. But I know that this is going to be the only easy part. After my crew and I got word that Link was seen around here, we hurried to the fortress. Not because I'm worried about him, obviously, but because he's bound to mess it all up and I'll have to sort everything out. Again.

Suddenly a loud cry overhead makes me duck, remembering the last time I heard that sound. It was when I was snatched off the deck of my ship by an enormous Helmaroc King, and looking up I see the same bird heading straight for the fortress. I watch it carefully, waiting for it to swoop down and attack our ship, but it either didn't see us or didn't think we were worth the bother of attacking. I'm almost offended.

'Lucky that monster missed us, eh?' Gonzo remarks.

'Yes…' I reply, but I'm thinking hard. 'I don't think it did miss us. It must have seen us, but whatever is in that fortress is more important. I think I can guess what that is.' I sigh, wondering how much longer I'm going to have to babysit Link. 'Right. Get the cannon ready.'

'But Miss Tetra,' Gonzo says in confusion, 'that'll give away our position! The bird will come back!'

'That's what I'm hoping for. We need to draw it off, to give Link time to get to his sister.' Gonzo doesn't look convinced, so I add, 'I know it's dangerous, but if we do nothing Link will be attacked by that thing again, and he won't stand a chance. I'm not happy about this either, but we have to help.' When Gonzo still doesn't move I sigh and run past him to the nearest cannon. I push Zuko to one side, pop a bomb in the end, and line the barrel up carefully.

'Easy does it… allow for wind speed… aim in front of the bird…' I mutter to myself, closing one eye as I watch the Helmaroc King. 'Fire!' I yell, and mentally cheer as the bomb flies straight ahead and hits the bird square on its mask. It shakes its head in annoyance, then flies around in an ark and heads straight for our ship.

'What was the rest of the plan, Miss Tetra?' Gonzo asks nervously.

'Full speed ahead!' I yell, rushing to the wheel and spinning it hard, sending us back out over the sea and away from the Forsaken Fortress. 'Keep shooting!' I yell at my crew, glancing over my shoulder as I do so. 'Sorry Link,' I murmur. 'You'll have to manage without me for a while.'

I turn back to the ocean ahead, trying to keep us on course while the spray practically blinds me. The ship rises over the crest of a wave and crashes down, but it sounds wrong. It's less like the smack of wood on water, and more like… a door opening? I scowl, realising what's going on. The real world and my dream world are starting to merge, meaning I'm in the process of waking up.

I realise that any actions to save my ship and crew are futile at this point, so I let go of the wheel, which immediately spins wildly as the ship rolls in the water. Gonzo turns round and looks at me in alarm, frantically yelling something, but I can't hear him. The sound has suddenly vanished from my dream, and my vision is starting to ripple around the edges as well. Another wave crashes past us and the Helmaroc King is definitely getting closer, but I don't care. Any second now I'll be awake, and all this will become irrelevant. I sigh grumpily.

It's really starting to annoy me, how every dream I have is interrupted. Why can't I for once find out how it was supposed to end? Yep, my vision is definitely going. The ship plunges down into a trough and a wave crashes over us, but instead of soaking wet I just feel mildly cold. Darkness surrounds me, and I sigh. There we go. Another dream ruined. Whoever woke me up this time is really going to regret it.

-o-

'Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!' an annoying voice yells, cutting through my blissful sleep.

'Ugh. What do you want?' I ask Sheik grumpily.

'To bring you breakfast,' he replies, opening my door. I crack open an eyelid. Sheik's never brought me breakfast in bed before, and I see no reason why he should start now. This is very suspicious. On the other hand, it's free food. I tuck in to the plate of pancakes he brought me, savouring every bite.

'Did you make these?' I ask through teeth glued together by syrup.

'Yes. It's not hard, which you'd know if you ever bothered to cook. Aren't women supposed to be good at cooking?' I narrow my eyes and flick a leg out from under my blanket, kicking my brother on the shin. Pancakes or no pancakes, I won't allow sexism.

'It was a joke.'

'I'm sure. So what's going on? You must want something, if you're going to all this effort.' Sheik looks mock-offended.

'Why, the mere suggestion is insulting! Since when can a brother not do something nice for his sister without being accused of having an ulterior motive?' I shrug.

'Since that brother is you. Seriously, what do you want?'

'I told you, nothing. Think of this as your reward.'

'Reward?'

'For finally admitting that you like Link and doing something about it!' I drop my fork in shock.

'What are you talking about?'

'You know what I'm talking about! You guys kissed yesterday!'

'That was a fake kiss! And anyway, how do you know about that?'

'Romani was over at Link's house to see Aryll. She saw you two. Then she told Aryll, and Aryll told me. And by the way, Romani will have told Cremia, who will have told Zelda. So basically, everyone now knows that you and Link are properly a thing.' I chew thoughtfully. In a way, things turned out for the best. After all, the whole point of kissing Link was to make Zelda think that we're still going strong. But still…

'Like I said, it was a fake kiss. Link and I were just practicing, so that when we kiss in front of Zelda we know what we're doing. But it looks like that won't be necessary now.' Sheik looks disappointed.

'So you didn't do it because you like Link?' I shake my head emphatically.

'Not at all. We are just as unromantic as before. I told you, I'm dedicated to getting Link and Zelda together. My feelings about this don't matter.' Sheik immediately seizes on this.

'But you do have feelings?' I bite my lip, regretting my words.

'Not exactly. Look, yesterday when I kissed Link I felt… something. But I don't know what it was and it certainly wasn't love.'

'How can you know what it wasn't if you don't know what it was?' Sheik interjects, but I ignore him.

'It was just because I'd never kissed a guy before. That's why I felt weird. Not because I like Link. I'd just like to make that very clear. Okay?' Sheik doesn't look convinced in the slightest.

'Come on, Tetra. We both know you like Link. The only person who doesn't know that is Link himself, and you need to tell him before you get hurt.' I hesitate for a moment.

'No. I told you, I don't even know what I was feeling. I'm not going to ruin Link's happiness just because I got butterflies. And don't you dare mention any of this to him!' I finish with a glare. Sheik looks torn, but eventually nods. But as he leaves, he stops at my door.

'Tetra. I get why you're doing this, denying your feelings so that you can help Link. But you're my sister, and to me your happiness is more important than anything else. I'm not going to let you martyr yourself for this guy, or any guy. I'm giving you until Pipit's party to tell Link how you feel. If you haven't done it by then, I'll tell him myself.' With that he goes back downstairs, leaving me fuming.


	6. Chapter 6

_Bzzt_. My phone buzzes on my desk. I look up briefly, then turn away when I see the caller ID. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever giving Link my number. But as the buzzing continues, I give in and answer it.

'What.'

'Hey, where are you?' Link asks. I can voices and music in the background. Is Link at a party? Without his girlfriend? Huh.

'I'm at home. Where are _you_?'

'The park. There's some outdoor concert thing Aryll wanted to go to, so I said I'd go with her. You know, you should come out and meet us. This place would be perfect for a date…'

'Could you hang on just a second?' I ask, trying to keep the disinterest from my voice. Once I'm sure Link can't hear me, I let out a long breath. I'm not exactly keen on concerts. Too many people, too much sweat and cheap beer. And more to the point, I'm more than a little nervous about seeing Link again.

I know our kiss was just plain practice for him, but I'm still confused about what I felt. I really wanted a bit more time alone to figure this out, but I guess I need to face Link sooner or later. And anyway, a big social event like a concert is sure to attract Zelda, and she's going to get suspicious if she sees Link there without me.

Sheik's threat is also weighing on my mind. I've got just over a week to somehow tell Link how I feel, and still convince him that I don't mind setting him up with Zelda. That's going to take time. Sighing, I raise my phone back to my ear.

'Alright, I'm on my way.'

-o-

Half an hour later I view the crowd in the park without much enthusiasm. On my way here I caught sight of posters advertising some jazz band called the Indigo-Go's. It's not really my thing, and I'm surprised Aryll likes this kind of music, but whatever, I'm only here to show off with Link. I search through the crowd and eventually catch sight of his messy blonde hair. I wolf-whistle loudly, but he can't hear me over the noise of the crowd. Rolling my eyes, I fight my way through the throng towards him.

'Hey!' I yell, struggling to be heard.

'Hey!' he yells back. 'You came! That's great!'

'Yeah!' I reply, and at this point we give up and resort to sign language.

'Where's Aryll?' I mime. Link shrugs in response but smiles at me, draping an arm over my shoulders. I frown, but with a quick flick of his eyes he gestures behind me. I don't need to turn around to know who it is.

'Let's get out of here,' Link mimes, and I nod emphatically. Once we're a fair distance from the stage and we can finally hear ourselves think again, I glance nonchalantly behind me. Yes, Zelda's still following. Perfect. Without warning I stop Link and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss. He's surprised at first, but quickly relaxes into it.

When we finally break for breath we're both red in the face, mostly from embarrassment, but while Link's blush soon fades mine stays painted onto my cheeks. Someone coughs pointedly behind us and I spin round, grabbing Link's hand and trying to look as impatient as possible. It's not hard.

'Hey, Link!' Zelda says brightly. 'I didn't know you liked the Indigo-Go's!'

'He doesn't but Aryll does so he had to go with her and he invited me along to make it more bearable,' I say quickly before Link has a chance to answer. Zelda glares at me for a moment before switching her sunshine smile back to Link.

'By the way, are you free tomorrow night?'

'Not sure yet, why?' I ask smoothly, again not giving Link space to talk. I know this must be annoying for him, but I can't trust him not to fall under Zelda's spell and mess everything up. Zelda rolls her eyes.

'I wanted to ask _Link_ if he wants to go on a date tomorrow.' We both stand speechless for a moment. Link recovers before I do, but it's not much of a recovery.

'Erm… Zelda, you do realise that my girlfriend is standing right here? I can't exactly say yes to a date with you while Tetra's around, can I?'

'But you would say yes if Tetra wasn't around?' Zelda asks slyly. Link gapes at her for a moment before she laughs. 'I'm kidding! No, I meant a double date. You and Tetra, and me and Ganon. Sound fun? Great. The Café Bar, half six? I'll see you there.'

-o-

'So, are we on for tomorrow?' Link asks as we walk home.

'Ooh, what's happening tomorrow?' Aryll asks excitedly.

'We're supposed to be going on a double date with Zelda. But Link, I'm not sure. If Ganon's going to be there, things could get complicated.'

'Don't you think Zelda realises that? Say what you like, she was definitely flirting with me today. She's having a hard enough time winning me over as it is, I don't think she'd want to make it any harder by letting Ganon mess things up. I don't know what she's planning, but as much as I hate to say it, I think we have to trust her. Hopefully this will turn out for the best.'

'Hopefully…' I echo, but I'm still not convinced. I'm the one who does the scheming around here, and if Zelda's getting involved too things might take a turn for the worse. Still, she probably does know what she's doing. After all, she's a master at seducing boys.

'Alright, we'll trust her on this. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ditch you during the day. My uncle's coming home just for tomorrow, and he promised to spend some time with me and Sheik. I get that "us" is important, but family comes first.'

'Obviously,' Link agrees. As I think about my uncle I suddenly remember something.

'Oh yeah, did your uncle ever come back after that first day?'

'No,' Aryll answers for Link. 'He calls occasionally, saying he's very busy and can't come home for a while. Oh well, we're still having plenty of fun, aren't we Link?' she asks, skipping along beside us.

'Yeah, plenty of fun,' Link replies, and for a moment I wonder if his tone is slightly wistful.

'You okay?' I ask.

'Yeah, great,' he answers. 'Just thinking about, you know, stuff.' I nod sagely. Ah yes, I know all about 'stuff'. And by stuff I'm guessing Link means a certain brunette seductress.

'It won't be long now,' I reassure Link. 'Trust me, you and Zelda are going to Pipit's party together, and after that it'll be a breeze.' Link nods vaguely, but I can tell his thoughts are somewhere else. And to be honest, mine are too.

I haven't forgotten what Sheik said, but how can I possibly tell Link how I feel? I don't even know what I'm feeling! No, I can't do it. I'll have to find some way to stop Sheik from telling Link. That'll be much easier.

-o-

I open my eyes, and gasp. Towering walls rise all around me, and I realise I'm standing in front of… a castle? Why… how is there a castle under the sea? And more to the point, how am I breathing underwater? I run to one side of the courtyard I'm standing in and look out over the wide vista. The castle is perched on a cliff, giving me a stunning view of the lake – or possibly ocean – below.

A rustling behind me makes me spin round, and I see Link standing there. Silently he motions for me to follow as he runs through the dark entrance of the castle. I take one last look back at the dragon-headed boat that brought us here before I go after him. Inside my jaw drops again as I take in the scale of the hall. The walls are covered with paintings, some of which show a figure who looks suspiciously similar to me, surrounded by men that bear a strong resemblance to my pirate crew. I narrow my eyes.

'Link, what is this place?' I ask as the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I can't help but feel like I've been here before, but I'm sure I would remember a magical castle beneath the waves. Link stays silent, running off down the room. I sigh, wondering why I really expected an answer. I've never heard Link utter a word, only the occasional battle-cry.

I follow him to a gigantic statue depicting someone who looks a lot like Link. But before I can wonder about this the statue moves to one side all by itself, revealing a staircase leading down. At this point I give up asking myself what in Din's name is going on, and just follow Link. He practically runs down the stairs, and I'm completely out of breath by the time we reach the bottom. I hunch over and lean on my knees for a moment, breathing heavily, but look up when I hear Link gasp.

We're in a large circular room with beautiful stained glass windows on all sides, and statues of knights, swords upraised, around a central platform. But I'm assuming that's not what surprised Link. Standing in the middle of the platform is a tall man dressed in red robes, with an impressively large ruff round his neck. But my eye is immediately drawn to the crown on his head. Who is this guy? And what is doing in a castle under the sea? As I scrutinise him he suddenly begins to speak.

'Do you think we should wake her?' he asks, and I frown. Wake who? What's going on?

'No, she looks so peaceful when she's asleep,' someone replies, and looking to my right I'm shocked to see it's Link. I've never heard him say a word before, so why is he talking now? And come to think of it, his voice sounds strange. Familiar. In fact, he sounds a lot like…

'SHEIK!' I yell.

-o-

'Oh look, she's awake. And pissed off,' my brother comments as I sit bolt upright.

'You interrupted my dream! Again!' I tell him angrily, before I take in the person standing next to him.

'Uncle!' I yell, immediately leaping up off my bed and hugging my uncle tightly. 'You're here already?'

'What do you mean already? Tetra, it's eleven thirty!' I smile bashfully, realising I've seriously overslept. Our uncle looks from one of us to the other.

'How late did you two stay up last night?' he asks suspiciously.

'Umm…' we say, not meeting his eyes. There was a horror movie marathon on TV last night, and after that we had to watch a few more films to get the scary memories out of our heads. Neither Sheik nor I enjoy horror movies, but we turn it into a competition between us, seeing who can be braver. Of course, this ends up terrifying both of us, but at least our honour is intact.

'Never mind, you two are going to bed early tonight,' Uncle assures us.

'Actually, I can't,' I tell him. 'I've got a date.' He pretends to fall back in shock, eyes wide.

'No! My little Tetra, on a date? With an actual person?' While I roll my eyes, Sheik explains.

'Remember those new neighbours we told you about last time you were here? Well, Tetra's now going out with one of them. Sort of.'

'Sort of? This sounds like a long story,' Uncle replies. 'Luckily I've got time to hear it. I was going to take you two out somewhere today, but seeing the weather…' I turn and look out the window, sighing when I see the torrential rain. I guess I really am going to have to explain everything to my uncle, seeing as we've got nothing better to do. This is going to be interesting.

-o-

'So let me get this straight. Tetra is pretending to go out with Link so that Zelda will get jealous and will then want to go out with Link herself, at which point Tetra will bow out and let those two go off together. And Ganon is just causing problems on the side.'

'Pretty much,' Sheik replies.

'Fine. But now Tetra may or may not have feelings for Link. And she doesn't want to tell him, because she doesn't want to upset him and she doesn't think she wants to go out with him anyway. But Sheik does want Tetra to tell Link, because he knows that it'll be better that way in the long run.'

'Exactly,' I tell my uncle. 'So we need you to adjudicate, preferably in my favour. Can you please tell Sheik that he's being an idiot?' Uncle sighs and looks down at his tea.

'I'm sorry Tetra, but I can't do that. I think he's right.' I look at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

'Seriously? Why are you two ganging up on me?'

'We're not, we're just trying to help,' Uncle says soothingly, but I'm not in the mood to hear it. Nevertheless, he continues undeterred. 'I know you're not happy about this, but Sheik is right. You need to tell this boy that you like him, or else things will go badly. Think about it. If you don't tell him, how is this going to end?'

'He'll end up with Zelda and we'll all be happy,' I reply promptly.

'Yes, for about a week,' my uncle says. 'But sooner or later you'll start to struggle with your feelings. You'll realise that you really do like Link, you really do want to go out with him, but by that point it'll be too late. He'll be happy with Zelda, and he won't have time for you. So you try talking to him about it. He's angry, he wants to know why you didn't tell him earlier, while he was still single.

Either he says he's happy with Zelda and decides that maybe he doesn't need you in his life anymore, or he admits that he likes you back but now that he's gone to all the trouble to be with Zelda, he doesn't want to just dump her to be with you. Especially since he's now angry with you. So telling Link doesn't work. So instead you bottle up your feelings, hiding them.

But that doesn't work either, because now it's torture to be around Link. He realises something's wrong, he asks you about it. But you won't admit the truth, so you lie, tell him everything's fine. He knows you're lying, and he gets offended. Eventually, when you keep refusing to open up to him, he starts to resent you. Then you start to resent him back. And after a while your relationship falls apart completely.

Look at it any way you like Tetra, if you don't tell Link how you feel before you set him up with Zelda, you'll regret it no matter what the outcome.' Uncle finally finishes his lecture and takes a sip of his tea, watching me carefully. I'm turning over what he's said in my mind, trying to find a loophole.

'But what if I don't have feelings for him now, or I'm not sure how I feel? What's the point in rocking the boat over nothing?' I ask. My uncle sighs and looks at me sadly.

'Tetra, we both know it's too late for that. You know how you feel. Now you need to let Link know. I understand that it's hard for you, but you have to tell him. Trust me, I've been where you are before. It never ends well.'

I sigh, staring out the window at the rain. Why did everything decide to become so complicated? That's always the way, isn't it? Just when you think life is going well, it turns around and kicks you in the balls.

-o-

The rain peters out towards the end of the day, which doesn't improve my mood. I was hoping the weather would cause our double date to get cancelled, but no such luck. Eventually I can put it off no longer, and get ready to head over to Link's house. But before I leave I give myself a pep talk in front of the mirror.

'Okay, Tetra. You can do this. You are in control of this situation. Just walk up to Link, and tell him. "Hi Link! I'm in love with you." There we are, sorted. I'm sure he'll understand.' I sigh, and look morosely at my reflection.

'Stop having a pity party and get on with it!' Sheik says from the door. 'If you don't do it now, you'll lose your nerve. Remember what Uncle said.'

'I know, I know,' I say, shaking myself. 'I can do this.'

'Sure you can. You got this, Tetra,' my brother reassures me.

'Yep…' I reply, not convinced. But I take a deep breath, set my shoulders back, and march out the door before my doubts can get the better of me. I knock on Link's door quickly, trying to calm my pounding heart. You got this, I remind myself. You'll be fine. After a few moments, Link opens the door with a broad smile.

'Great, you're here! I was half-wondering if you were going to ditch me,' he says with a laugh.

'You'd like that, wouldn't you?' I joke. 'A private date with Zelda?'

'Yeah, and Ganon,' he reminds me as we start walking. I laugh nervously, taking deep breaths in and out. I plan to tell Link how I feel while we're walking to the café. That way he can get over the shock before we need to see Zelda.

'You okay?' Link asks, noticing me brooding.

'Yeah, fine. Just… you know, thinking.'

'Ah, I thought I heard the gears grinding,' Link says with a smile. I elbow him hard, but I can't help but smile too.

'I get enough of that sort of thing from my brother,' I reprimand him. 'I don't need you to start as well.' We walk on in silence for a while, Link on his best behaviour, me trying to summon a few shreds of courage. Soon I realise that we're close to the café. I need to tell Link now. I take a deep breath and turn to him.

'Link. There's something I need to-'

'Hey, isn't that Ganon?' Link interrupts, looking behind me. I'm so surprised I forget my confession and turn round, seeing the hulking boy across the street from us.

'Yeah, it is. But he's walking away from the café. What's going on? Hey, Ganon!' I yell. The boy looks up and glares at us.

'Aren't you going the wrong way?' Link asks.

'What?' Ganon replies, annoyed.

'The café. It's that way, isn't it?'

'What café?' Ganon asks. I'm confused, when suddenly realisation dawns. Of course Zelda wouldn't let Ganon interfere with her plans for Link.

'Zelda didn't mention anything?' I ask, just to be sure.

'What are you talking about?' Ganon growls, looking even angrier now I've brought Zelda into this.

'Nothing. I got it wrong, sorry,' I reply, while trying to work through this revelation. This changes things. Ganon glares at me one final time and stalks off.

'What's going on?' Link asks, thoroughly confused.

'Listen. I don't think Zelda told Ganon that we're supposed to be having a double date.'

'What? Why not?'

'Partly because he'd be angry at the thought of you and his girlfriend having any kind of date together, but mostly because if she told him, he'd probably show up. Zelda doesn't want that. I bet you anything, when we go into that café she'll be sitting there alone, spinning some story about how Ganon couldn't make it. Then she's still got the perfectly innocent excuse of a double date, but she doesn't need to worry about Ganon interfering. That way she can flirt with you all night long, just like she planned.'

'But isn't she going to mind that you're there?' Link asks, brows furrowed.

'I've been thinking about that,' I tell him, as my brain shifts back into its old scheming ways. 'What if I'm not there? I mean, what if you go there alone, and pretend that I couldn't make it either? Then it would be just you and Zelda. You'd both be happy.' Immediately Link's face lights up.

'Really, Tetra? You really think I'm ready?' I laugh at his eagerness, like a puppy that's just been praised.

'Yes, really. And I reckon Zelda's ready too. Now remember what we discussed. Start off by pretending that all is still fine between you and me. Then subtly hint that maybe you aren't happy in our relationship. Zelda should seize that hint, and she'll start working even harder to seduce you. Now I know it'll be hard, but don't give in. Let her make a little bit of progress, just enough to make her think she's got a chance, and we'll go from there.

But remember, you've got to pretend that I'm still happy with you, even if it's not mutual. That'll give her even more of an incentive, she'll want to make me miserable by stealing the guy I like. You think you can manage all that?' Link nods quickly, although at this point I'm not exactly sure how much he's taking in. I think he's just overjoyed at the thought of a date with Zelda. Still, he's earned it.

'Alright. Good luck! And have fun!' I yell after him as he practically sprints towards the café. It's only once he's round the corner that I remember that I was going to tell him I like him.

'Damn!'

-o-

I shuffle back home, praying to the Goddesses the entire way that Sheik and my uncle have already gone to bed. No such luck.

'What happened? Did lover boy dump you?' my brother asks as I walk in the door.

'I don't want to talk about it,' I reply. 'Where's Uncle?'

'In bed already. He said he had to get up early tomorrow, so he got an early night. You should too. It'll stop you mourning the loss of Link.'

'I am not mourning him,' I tell my brother sharply. He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

'Really? Then what's going on? Isn't Link on a date with Zelda at this very moment?'

'Yes. I told you, I don't want to talk about it.' I take the stairs two at a time, trying to escape to the safety of my room before Sheik asks the dreaded question. But I'm not quick enough.

'Wait… Tetra, you did tell Link you like him, didn't you? Tetra? Tetra!' I don't reply, running into my room and slamming the door. I collapse onto my bed, trying to decide whether to dissolve into floods of tears or scream at the top of my voice. I'm too wrapped up in the emotional storm to take notice of the outside world, so I don't hear the front door swinging shut.

-o-

I fix Link's front door with my fiercest glare. Then I turn away, growl in frustration, and aim a vicious kick at a nearby rock. All this achieves is an aching toe, so I give up and knock loudly on Link's door. After a few minutes it's opened by Aryll, and she looks surprised to see me.

'Oh! It's… you.'

'Is there a problem?' I ask, slightly more aggressively than I intended. Aryll recovers herself.

'Of course not! Link's still in bed, but I'm sure he won't mind if you wake him!' As if to prove her point she bounds off up the stairs and into her brother's room.

'Link! You'll never guess who's here to see you!' she says gleefully, bouncing on Link's bed. He opens his eyes blearily and makes it into a sitting position on the third attempt.

'Wha? Why's Zelda up this early?' he asks with a yawn. Aryll gasps, then hits Link playfully on the head.

'No, silly! It's Tetra, not Zelda!'

'Oh,' Link says, and he too sounds disappointed. A painful lump forms in my throat, but I take a deep breath and calm myself.

'So I'm guessing last night went well?' I ask with forced cheerfulness. Link smiles happily.

'You have no idea. Don't worry, I stuck to the program, I told her how happy I was with you but then I hinted that maybe things weren't going so well. It went just like you said it would! Zelda tried everything to convince me that you were awful, and that I'd be much better off without you.'

'Sounds like she succeeded,' I mutter. Link looks at me quizzically, but I don't think he heard.

'Anyway, she asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her today, but I thought saying yes would make me sound too eager, so we're going tomorrow instead. That means I'm free to spend the day with you!' I smile at his happiness, but then the little voice at the back of my mind that keeps track of our deception waves a flag.

'Well, maybe we shouldn't do anything together in public. After all, it would look suspicious if we're too friendly, especially after what you told Zelda last night. We need to make her think that she succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in your mind, and you're now reconsidering your relationship with me. Wait a minute, that might work!'

'What might?' Link asks, confused.

'I just had an idea. We _should_ do something public together. Then I'll act as though I'm totally in love with you and couldn't be happier, and you'll act as though being with me is the last thing you want to be doing.'

'That sounds good!' Link says enthusiastically. 'How about the park? It's a classic. I'll just get my stuff.' I smile at him, but as soon as he leaves the room the smile drops from my lips. Sounds good, I think to myself. Only neither of us will be acting.

-o-

'…Tetra?' Link's voice calls me back to reality yet again. I keep drifting off into a reverie, thinking about Link. How can he have no idea that I like him? He's absolutely clueless about girls, I remind myself. And to be fair, I only realised that I like him very recently. Unless he's telepathic, he hasn't had much of a chance to figure it out for himself. I take a deep breath. It's still not too late to tell Link the truth. I know he's completely infatuated with Zelda, especially after last night, but Uncle was right. I have to tell him.

'Link, can I talk to you for a minute?' I ask hesitantly.

'Sure,' he replies with a smile. 'After all, we're supposed to be on a date, aren't we?' I'm silent for a moment, trying to calm my pounding heart. Here goes.

'Link, I-'

'Ssh! Zelda's behind you!' Link whispers urgently. I panic, trying to decide what to do. Either I play along and pretend all is fine between me and Link, or I can still try to tell him. I open my mouth again, but Link turns away, a scowl settling on his face. Looks like he wants to keep up the act. Glumly, I start walking again, arranging my face into a happy smile.

'Link, look over there! The cute little squirrels!' I squeal, pointing to the animals.

'Uh-huh,' Link says, not looking. He glances back over his shoulder and smiles to Zelda behind us. I look around as well, pretending to be surprised, then tug on Link's arm.

'Come on Link, let's go,' I tell him, but he hesitates.

'Um, you go ahead. I'll catch up,' he says, before heading back to join Zelda. The look of disappointment and hurt on my face isn't faked. Zelda beams at Link, looping her arm through his before the two of them head off in the opposite direction. I stay there, standing stock still in the middle of the path, until they're long out of sight.

-o-

A/N: Last chapter tomorrow! Do you think Tetra will ever manage to tell Link?


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: The final chapter! But before we get going I'd like to say a massive thank you to KDRDEADMAN and FALLING-ANGEL24 for your lovely reviews. It means a lot!

Right, on with the story!

-o-

I stare sightlessly at my comic, trying to focus. I glance up at the clock. Nine thirty in the evening, and still no sign of Link. What has he been doing all day? I sigh and go back to my comic. It's one of my favourite ones, where the plucky pirate and her crew save the so-called hero from evil pirates. I know it's probably childish to still be reading comic books at my age, but they've always comforted me. Not tonight, though.

I close my book and lie back on my bed, praying for sleep to come quickly. Suddenly there's a soft tap on my window. My eyes flick open, but I hesitate for a moment before getting up and opening the curtains. Link is perched in the tree outside, and he looks very pleased with himself. I wrestle briefly with the idea of pushing him out of the tree, but eventually I give in and let him into my room.

'Thanks. How are you?' I blink at him.

'How am I? Why does that matter?' He frowns.

'Why wouldn't it? After all, I ditched you for Zelda earlier. You okay with that?'

'Yeah, sure,' I say, forcing my face into a smile. _Tell him the truth!_ a voice in my head screams. _Tell him you like him!_ But how can I, when Link is so blissfully in love with Zelda? As I fight with my emotions he's busy telling me about the wonderful day he had, spending all that time with the girl of his dreams.

'That sounds great,' I lie, not really listening. Link looks at me in confusion, and I realise he was in the middle of his sentence when I interrupted. 'Sorry to be rude, but I'm pretty tired,' I say quickly. Link nods in understanding.

'I'll leave you in peace, then. And don't forget, you're on your own tomorrow. I'm going to see a movie with Zelda. And afterwards she said we might go back to her place!' I have to laugh at Link's enthusiasm.

'Pace yourself, Link. Remember, you're still supposed to be going out with me.'

'Yeah, about that… today I kind of told Zelda that I was going to break things off with you when I got home tonight. I saw the light on in her window when I was climbing across to your house, so she knows I'm here. She probably thinks I'm in here now breaking up with you. Just thought you should know.' I stand in silence, my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

'Great. That's fine,' I manage.

'Awesome! Right, see you tomorrow- I mean, the day after tomorrow!' Link says cheerfully, before clambering back out the window. Once he's gone I close the curtains and curl up into a foetal position, trying not to cry. All along this is exactly what I wanted, for my plan to succeed and for Link to go out with Zelda. But now that it's actually happened, I can't imagine anything more awful.

-o-

Link and Zelda's Big Day passes by. I do anything and everything, reading, sleeping, even housework (making Sheik worry I've been hit on the head), just as long as it takes my mind off Link. But the next day eventually dawns, and I lie in bed for a while after waking up, wondering what horrors the Goddesses have in store for me today. After a while I tire of my mental torture and wrench open the curtains, expecting to see Link in his room. I get up very late in the morning, so he should be up and about already. But to my surprise his curtains are still closed. I'm just considering going over there to wake him when my eyes fall on my phone.

 _1 unread message. From: Link_. I reach for my phone, curious as to why Link would have texted me. I glance at the time: yesterday, 11:37p.m. Strange time for him to be up. Then again, he did say he might go over to Zelda's house after their date. I resist the urge to gag, and quickly open up the message.

 _At Zelda's. Friends over. Up late. Don't wake me tomorrow._ I sigh. There goes that plan. But thinking about it, Zelda now thinks that all is over between me and Link, doesn't she? So if she sees me spending time with Link, she's going to get suspicious. I guess for now at least I'll have to stay away from him.

 _Good!_ I tell myself. _I don't want to see him anyway! He's just some stupid idiot who can't tell when a girl's got a crush on him! He and Zelda deserve each other! Hah! I can do so much better than him!_ I repeat my rant over and over, trying to convince myself. But I spend the rest of my day with my phone in my hand, hoping like hell that Link will text me.

-o-

'So, Pipit's party is tomorrow,' Sheik says casually over breakfast. I grunt in reply. In the days leading up to the party my mood has become progressively worse, until I barely speak to my brother anymore. 'Are you going to go?' he asks, ignoring my scowl.

'What do you think?' I snarl, then sigh. I'm not in a good place right now, and I could really use someone on my side. I can't afford to push my brother away just because I'm upset about Link. _I'm not upset_ , I remind myself. _Losing him was the best thing that could have happened. Absolutely._ 'Are you going?' I ask Sheik, trying to focus on something less painful. To my surprise, he shrugs.

'Might do.'

'Seriously? You have a girlfriend?' I ask, jolted out of my self-pity by this juicy gossip. 'Since when?'

'You haven't exactly taken much notice of what I've been getting up to recently,' Sheik chides me. 'I don't have a girlfriend per se, but there is a girl who is definitely looking in the direction of yours truly. I'm going to ask her today.'

'Who is it?' I yell, overcome with excitement. I can't believe my shy brother is actually going to ask a girl out! When he refuses to answer me I tackle him across the table, threatening to shove his face into his cornflakes unless he confesses.

'Alright, alright! I'll tell you! But you've got to promise to keep it a secret, okay? Especially if she says no.'

'Fine, whatever,' I tell him. 'Spill it!'

'Okay. It's… Cremia.' I sit back, stunned. I quickly run over everything I know about Romani's older sister. Very pretty, friend of Zelda so presumably quite bitchy, but then again Aryll says she's nice, so maybe she's not that bad. But how in Farore's name did she and my brother get so close? As if reading my mind, Sheik says,

'It was Aryll. She kind of set us up, her and Romani. One day, Aryll and Romani wanted to watch a movie together but they needed an adult with them, so Cremia and I said we'd go. We ended up talking and actually we have a lot in common. In the end we exchanged numbers, and things went from there.'

'Aww, I'm so happy for you,' I tell Sheik, and I genuinely mean it. True, his fairytale love does remind me of a certain someone and my own failed attempts at romance, but I'm glad my brother isn't going to be alone anymore. That just leaves me. Again, Sheik reads my mind.

'It's weird, isn't it? When we were kids, we always thought that you would eventually find some guy (and by that I mean browbeat him into going out with you), and I'd end up alone. But now I'm the one with a girlfriend, and you're alone.'

'Yes, thank you for pointing that out,' I say icily. But Sheik looks at me with a wry smile.

'Don't give up just yet, Tetra. You never know what's going to happen.'

'I do know Link isn't going to burst through that door and sweep me off my feet,' I reply. Sheik shrugs.

'Maybe not. But it's not over yet. It's not too late.'

'What, too late for me to tell Link I like him? Sheik, that ship sailed the day Link first saw Zelda.' But Sheik doesn't stop smiling.

'Maybe. And maybe not.'

-o-

The day of the party dawns, bright and sunny. I glare at the sky, annoyed that, once again, the Goddesses refuse to let me wallow in my misery by giving me a grey and dreary day. But I'm not going to let myself wallow either. I've decided that today is a new day, and the start of a new chapter in my life.

I'm done with Link, over it. He's off with Zelda now, and I'm going to find someone else. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just enjoy being single for a bit. From now on, I'm going to ignore Link, I'm not going to speak to him, think about him, nothing. And when I get back to school at the end of the summer… well, I'll deal with that problem when I get to it. For now, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, all is right with the world, and I am happy.

-o-

I'm miserable. I tried to turn over a new leaf and move on with my life, but as the hours ticked by and the party approached I found my optimism draining away. I keep thinking about what Link must be doing right now. And Zelda. She'll be getting ready for the party, looking forward to an evening with her boyfriend. Link, Zelda's boyfriend. The thought makes me shudder.

'Are you going to stop moping anytime soon?' Sheik asks, poking his head round the door.

'Unlikely. Are you going to leave anytime soon?'

'Yeah, five minutes. I'm picking Cremia up on the way. Are you sure you don't want to come?' I nod.

'Definitely. Parties aren't my thing, you know that.'

'Yeah, but I thought, this one…' he trails off when he sees my face. 'Maybe not. Fine, I guess I'll see you in the morning then.'

'Bye,' I tell him, going back to my comic. He leaves, but almost immediately returns.

'Oh, just in case you do want to go,' he says, holding up a hand to stall my interruption, 'Pipit's house is 42 Skyloft Street. Know where that is?'

'Doesn't matter if I do or not. I'm not going,' I tell my brother without looking up from my book. But when Sheik doesn't leave, I sigh and meet his eyes.

'Yes, I know where that is.'

'Good. And, Tetra-' He sighs as I glare at him, but continues anyway. 'This is your last chance. You know that. It's still not too late, but after tonight it will be. Fight for your man, Tetra.' And with that he leaves.

-o-

I sit on my bed as my room gets slowly darker. I should turn on the lights, but somehow I can't force myself to move. My eyes stare at the wall opposite, unseeing. Images start to flicker in front of my eyes, like I'm dreaming, but I'm still awake. I'm standing on top of a tall tower. There's water all around me, and more waterfalls pouring down from above. There are only two other people on the tower: a tall dark man whose face I can't make out, and… Link.

He hasn't seen me, too busy glaring at the dark man. But he's defenceless, with only a shield, and the taller man has two long swords. I look around me, and suddenly I see a sword with a blue hilt. The Master Sword. I wrench it from the ground and rush over to Link. He looks at me, shocked, and I realise I need to say something. I can feel the words inside.

 _Link! I'm sorry! I overslept! We must return to the world above! Back to our ocean!_ I shake my head slightly. Those aren't the right words. Not now. Not for Link.

'Link!' I yell, trying to be heard over the rushing of the waterfalls. 'I'm sorry it took me so long! But I'm here now! I'm here for you! Because… because I love you, Link!' Link's mouth drops open as he stares. But I can barely see him. Finally, I said it. Finally, I told Link what I've wanted to say for ages now, what I think I've wanted to say since I first met him.

 _Link, I love you._ And if I can tell a dream version of Link, I can tell the real Link. I have to tell the real Link. I shake my head violently, dispelling the dream. I cast my comic aside, race out of my room and down the stairs. I wrench open the door and pause for a moment, wondering. No! I can't falter now! Without looking back, I run out into the night.

-o-

I jog along Skyloft Street. 42, 42… there! I run to the door and hammer on it, but my subconscious is already informing me that something is wrong. There are no lights, no noise, no people. No-one's home. I backtrack slightly and look at the name on the mailbox: Aran. It sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I've heard it… Of course! Aran is Karane's surname. She's a girl in my class at school, and Pipit's girlfriend. But then, this can't be Pipit's house! The party isn't here, why did Sheik send me to the wrong house? I shake my head in disbelief. I thought my brother wanted me to find Link? Unable to believe the evidence, I pull out my phone and quickly dial Sheik's number.

'Hello?' he yells at the other end. I can hear voices and music, so clearly he's at the party.

'Sheik! You sent me to the wrong house! 42 Skyloft Street is Karane's house, not Pipit's!'

'What? Speak up, I can't hear you!' Sheik yells.

'YOU SENT ME TO THE WRONG HOUSE!' I yell back. 'I came to tell Link how I feel, but I can't find the party! Where is it?'

'What?' Sheik yells again. 'Tetra, I can't hear you! Whatever it is, you'll have to tell me when I get home tomorrow!' With that he hangs up, and I growl in frustration. I have to find Link! I can't just give up! But where should I search for him? I have no idea where Pipit's house is.

I hesitate for a moment, then ring Link's number. It goes straight to voicemail. Typical, the one time I need him and his phone is off. I take a few breaths to calm myself. This can't be it. This can't be over. I can't not find Link. But I have to accept it: I've failed. I stalled and stalled and stalled, and now I'm paying the price. I had so many opportunities to tell Link how I felt, and I let all of them go by. This is celestial payback.

Dejected, I turn for home. I trudge down the deserted streets, going over everything in my mind. I could have told Link _then_ , or _then_ , or _then_ … But I didn't. Heaving a sigh, I fix my gaze on the sidewalk, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes. I don't look up until I'm right outside my house. But when I do, I gasp, my eyes widening and my mouth falling open.

There, waiting for me outside my front door, is Link.

-o-

I stand immobile, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. But it's impossible. _Link_. He's here, he's waiting for me… I have to tell him. Taking control of my body once more, I stride over to him, heart pounding. Nothing is going to stop me from telling him how I feel, not this time.

'Link, I-'

'I love you.' Well that did it.

I gape at him, unable to believe my ears. Did he… really just say that? Link looks at me, his smile slowly turning into worry.

'That is what you wanted me to say, wasn't it? Tetra?' I'm silent, then suddenly I fling my arms around his neck and kiss him passionately.

'Yes,' I breathe when we break apart. 'You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that. Link, I love you more than anyone else in the world.' Link smiles and kisses me again. We stay like that while the world spins around us, utterly oblivious to everything except each other. When we finally separate, a smile grows on my face until my muscles ache, but I don't care. He said it. And I said it, too. Finally. But suddenly I remember something. Or rather, someone.

'Link, I don't understand, what about Zelda?' He chuckles.

'What about her?'

'Aren't you supposed to be out at Pipit's party with her? Aren't you supposed to be in love with her? What are you doing here, anyway?' Link looks at me for a long moment.

'Sheik didn't tell you anything, did he?' he asks eventually. I frown.

'What's my brother got to do with this?'

'Seriously? He's the mastermind behind this whole thing!' I can't believe what I'm hearing. Sheik, my shy nerdy brother, a mastermind? He got me and Link together? Impossible! Link laughs at my expression and sits down.

'Come on, I'll explain everything, since Sheik clearly didn't. Tetra, the first thing you've got to understand is that your brother cares a lot about you. He'd do anything to make you happy. So when he first saw the two of us together, that day when we first met, he realised that you could be happy with me. And I'd be happy with you, too. So he started scheming.

When he found out that I had a crush on Zelda, he suggested you help me out. Not because he wanted to set me up with Zelda particularly, but because that way we'd be spending a lot of time together. He knew that eventually I'd realise what an amazing girl you were, and I'd start to like you instead of Zelda. And he hoped that the same thing would happen for you. That's why he was so excited when he heard about our kiss. He thought it meant we'd finally realised that we should be with each other. And he was disappointed when you told him what really happened.

Eventually he found that you actually _did_ like me, but that you had no intention of telling me. So he gave you that ultimatum, telling you that if you didn't tell me, he'd do it for you. Of course, all this time I had no idea what was going on between you two. To be honest, I… I did have feelings for you. I'd had them for a long time.' I stare at him open-mouthed, and he laughs.

'Yeah, I know you probably thought that I was just this innocent little kid who was too oblivious to be interested in you, but I was interested. Just not as interested as I was in Zelda.' I'm mildly offended by this, but he reassures me. 'Don't worry, it was just a superficial attraction. You see, I really was that innocent little kid. I was swept up by her looks, and to be honest, you scared me a little. That's why I went after Zelda and not you. And with the act she put on, I got more and more tangled in her web. I started leaning away from you. But all that changed the night we had our date at the café.

As soon as Zelda thought I was interested in her, she revealed her true colours. She was so horrible about you, listing all your faults and explaining how she was better in every way. At that moment I realised that you were right all along. She really is a bitch. She was just acting differently to make me like her. But when I heard her being so mean about you, I realised that I could never like a girl like that. The girl I really liked, really loved, was you, Tetra. But the whole time I thought you weren't interested in me. So I got the surprise of my life when Sheik came over that night.

He told me that you had come home, practically in tears, because you were in love with me but you thought that I liked Zelda. I explained the situation to him, and we came up with a plan. Sheik still wanted you to tell me how you felt of your own accord, because if you refused to acknowledge your feelings that wouldn't make for a happy relationship. So we stuck to the original deadline: the night of the party. In the meantime, I'd keep going out with Zelda, to make you jealous so hopefully you'd admit how you felt.

But in fact I've broken up with Zelda - not that we ever really had much of a relationship. She's at Pipit's party right now, but she knew I wouldn't be coming. Actually, I'm pretty sure she's back with Ganon. For the night of the party, Sheik planned a test for you. He'd tell you the party was at the wrong address. Then, if you really did like me, you'd leave your house to go to the party and tell me. That way I'd know, so I could come out here and wait for you. So you see, it was a bit convoluted, but Sheik's master plan did work. After all, we're together now, aren't we?' Link finishes. I give him an appraising look.

'Don't get ahead of yourself. I've only just decided that I like you. Don't push your luck.' Link just laughs and kisses me again.

-o-

Early the next morning, I'm woken by a scuffling noise outside the front door. For one brief, panicked moment I wonder if it's a burglar, but then I realise it's probably my brother, exhausted and most likely drunk. I smile as he finally gets the door open, staggering upstairs and into his room. I look to my left, see that Link is still sound asleep, and carefully rise from the bed. I poke my head round the door of my brother's room.

'Sheik? You conscious?'

'Mm,' a sleepy voice from the bed says. I smile and perch on the bed next to him, running a hand through his messy hair like I did when we were kids.

'Thank you,' I whisper. He smiles slightly, and soon he starts to snore gently. Laughing softly to myself, I close the door and go back to my room.

'Tetra?' Link asks quietly.

'Who else would it be? Sorry, did I wake you?' I ask, slipping back into bed next to him.

'Don't worry about it. Is everything alright?' I smile and kiss him.

'Everything is perfect.' He wraps his arms around me as he goes back to sleep. I close my eyes, happy at last. The world around me begins to fade, and finally I drift off to sleep.

-o-

The salty wind whips my hair out of my eyes as I stare at the horizon. The island is a lot closer now, no longer a dark haze in the distance, but a definite target. From here I can see a steaming volcano, surrounded by treacherous cliffs. But I'm not discouraged; instead, I relish the adventure.

'Keep her steady!' I yell back to Gonzo. The ship ploughs through the waves, but I keep my eyes fixed on my destination. I can already imagine the secrets hidden on the island.

'Miss Tetra! Are you going to go ashore all by yourself again?' Nudge asks, looking anxious.

'Don't worry, I'll be fine! I always am,' I reassure him. 'But… maybe I won't go alone this time.' As I speak I turn around, looking out at the dragon figurehead at the front of the ship. Perched on the very end is a boy dressed all in green. As I watch him he looks back and smiles at me. 'Coming with?' I ask. His grin broadens.

'Always.' I smile too as I look back at the island. That's right, I remind myself. I'm not alone. I'm never alone. I've got Link.


End file.
